100 Percent Hero
by CiscoTheSoto
Summary: A boy born with all the power he never wanted, Shigeo Kageyama didn't view himself as a hero. Although he saved innocent people from villains and spirits countless times, he never thought about how many lives he saved. But when he goes to a world where people with powers save others regularly, he will come to realize the impact he could have and what it really means to be a hero.
1. The Final Battle

**Hey guys, here's a new story that's been on my mind ever since I started watching My Hero Academia. I know that there are quite a few crossovers with Mob Psycho 100 and My Hero Academia that have similar concepts, but I chose not to let that deter me, and I'm confident that you will all enjoy my rendition of this crossover. So without further ado, here is Chapter 1 of 100 Percent Hero!**

* * *

"Listen very closely, Mob. You and I are different: we were born with special and unique powers that other people don't have. But even so, we mustn't let it get to our heads that we're special or above them."

Almost half a decade ago, these were the words that a deceitful yet wise man said to a young esper who lived in constant fear of his powers and had no one to guide him. While it was rather ironic that these words came from someone with no psychic powers at all, the message they carried was still powerful. He had no way of knowing that thanks to his words, this esper would never use this amazing psychic power for himself. Thanks to the words of Arataka Reigen, Mob managed to prevent himself from falling under the delusion of superiority with his psychic powers. But it wasn't just Reigen who made Shigeo realize the limits of his psychic powers in several areas.

As a child, Shigeo Kageyama once thought his powers made him cool. Why he thought this? Simple: it was his powers that made his crush, Tsubomi Takane, laugh and smile.

"Look! I can make the bar wiggle like a snake!" The young girl's eyes sparkled with fascination, and her heart reached out for the amazing things Mob could do.

"That's amazing! You're so cool, Mob!"

But for Tsubomi, Shigeo's psychic powers soon came to be old news. "Look!" the young child exclaimed while lifting a cat in the air, "You're the only person I've shown these things to!" The young Tsubomi did not look at these feats with the same awe she did before, and pursed her lips in a small line.

"Eh, it's kinda boring now."

Shigeo's sparkling eyes dimmed, and his proud posture now sunk as he looked to the ground with disappointment. His psychic powers weren't enough to make Tsubomi smile anymore.

Later that day, Shigeo participated in track and field events, and was carrying the baton for his team as he tried to pass it on to the next person. But his endurance was failing him: several boys passed him with confident smiles and strong bodies, while Shigeo was barely able to keep a running pace and had sweat pouring from all parts of his body.

Once the race finished, Mob laid defeated on his hands and knees, trying to catch his breath and feeling his shirt drenched in sweat. Standing a few feet away from him though, Tsubomi was admiring the winner of the race with the same sparkle in her eyes she had once given him before.

"I can't believe how fast you are, Akira!" exclaimed Tsubomi. As Mob heard Tsubomi's words of amazement towards Akira, Shigeo came to a strong realization: his psychic powers weren't enough to gain her affection or true interest. To some, they would view this as something trivial: sure, the girl Mob liked may have gotten bored after seeing him using psychic powers all the time, but there were still probably plenty of other girls that would fall for Mob and his psychic powers, right?

But that wasn't what Shigeo Kageyama wanted. He didn't want just any girl: he wanted to be with Tsubomi, his first crush. And to win her over, he realized he would need more than psychic powers.

Tsubomi never had any idea what kind of impact she had on Mob, nor would she ever have any real understanding of how much she meant to him or just how significant her very existence was in making Mob the person he was. But that didn't matter: once Mob came to this realization, and once he came across his master, Reigen, that was the last piece he needed to make Mob understand that his psychic powers didn't make him better than other people. For such a powerful being who could have the world in the palm of his hand if he so desired, it was exactly the thing he needed and the thing that would make him the pure-hearted soul he was today.

* * *

"Ha ha ha ha! Fear not, citizens! Hope has arrived, because I am here!"

In another world, another young boy was watching a video of his ultimate hero. He was watching the video he had watched since he was a child hundreds and hundreds of times. He was watching the Symbol of Peace of his world, All Might, debuting himself to the world on a video captured several years ago.

In this world, most of the citizens were gifted with supernatural abilities called Quirks. These abilities gave people unbelievable powers, allowed them to do things that seemed impossible, but with these powers came individuals who wanted to use them for evil. So to fight these villains and to fight the rising crime that came as a result of the spread of Quirks, people rose up with their own quirks and their own training to stand against this evil. It was the rise of supervillains and the rise of superheroes. But standing on the top of every supervillain and every superhero in the world was the Symbol of Peace, the man who could defeat any opponent he came across with a smile on his face, the one and only All Might.

Ever since he made himself known to the public, the people came to adore him. They came to view him as everything a hero embodied, the guardian angel that watched over society and would never let any villain enter their lives. It was this man that gave inspiration to millions of children to improve their quirks and become heroes just like All Might. But not everyone had the luxury of quirks to rely on: in this world, about 20% of the population was not born with a quirk. These people were just the regular citizens of society, the ones who lived normal lives and served to maintain peace and the function of society on a lower level.

Alas, not every Quirkless human was pleased with the lives that were destined without quirks. Some of them wanted to reach for more. Some of them so desperately wanted a quirk, because a quirk was the thing that made people special. It was the thing that defined All Might and basically all heroes. One such person was the young boy watching All Might on his computer: Izuku Midoriya.

When he was a young boy, he'd been sadly informed by a doctor that he was Quirkless. Once he heard this, it seemed like his dreams were shattered: without a quirk, could Izuku follow the path of a hero? Ever since he learned he was Quirkless, he desperately wanted to look past this, to believe that there was still a future for him as a hero even without a quirk. But everyone around him was telling him it was impossible, that it was just a stupid pipe dream that would never come true.

Even his mom didn't seem to believe in his dream: the night after learning he was Quirkless, he asked his mom whether or not he could become a hero. He wanted her to say yes, that his dream wasn't outlandish or impossible, that there was still hope. But that night, what she said to her son was,

"I'm sorry, Izuku. I wish things were different."

With tears rolling down both of their faces, the young child was stunned silent by what he was told. That wasn't what he wanted to hear. What she said... made it sound like she didn't believe in him.

But even that never wavered his resolve! At age 14, Izuku Midoriya was still desperately clinging onto the hope that his future as a hero was possible! It was why he studied everything he could about every hero, analyzing their strengths, weaknesses, fighting styles, quirks, anything that he could use to become a hero. But oh how desperately he wanted a quirk! How deep the hole in his heart felt, knowing he was born powerless. In the end, unlike Shigeo Kageyama, Izuku Midoriya would have given anything to have the powers the young esper had. To him, psychic powers or powers of any kind would be the answer to his dream and to living life to its fullest.

* * *

Ever since that day when the young boy and self-proclaimed esper met, Shigeo had worked under Arataka Reigen, acting as his disciple for Reigen's line of work as a psychic, eliminating evil spirits that haunted innocent people's homes. To the young esper, this was simply a job, and it was never something that he took pride in because he knew that in almost every other aspect of life, he was severely lacking. Thanks to his master's advice, he understood that without his powers, he was just a regular person.

However, during his youth, he came across several espers that had unfortunately allowed themselves to become enamored by their power and convinced themselves of their superiority to others. The first esper who had this god complex was a teenager named Teruki Hanazawa. His whole life, he'd believed he was on the center stage of the world thanks to the amazing psychic powers he was given with no one else to contest against him, and when another esper came that dared challenge that title, his whole world came crashing down around him. This time, it was Shigeo who would give his wisdom to this young esper and make him realize that his psychic powers didn't make him better than others.

But there were more espers like Teruki Hanazawa out there, more self-righteous and power-hungry psychics who wanted to use their psychic powers to take over the world. In fact, there was an actually an organization composed of espers like these, an organization named Claw. Shigeo fought this organization alongside his master, his brother and Hanazawa, and actually managed to turn most of these espers to the side of good. He thought he'd seen the last of them, but it turns out, he was wrong.

Hiding in the shadows and waiting until the right moment to strike, the leader of Claw had decided to begin his plans for world domination. This man, Toichiro Suzuki, was unlike anything Shigeo had ever encountered before. Not only in terms of raw power, but in terms of ruthlessness and depravity. When Shigeo heard about how he had beat his own son into submission without hesitation, the young esper was appalled. Who could do something like that to their child? Despite this, Shigeo was trying his best to reason with Toichiro, but it was not enough to get through to the esper, and Shigeo was quickly overwhelmed with the Claw leader's formidable power.

But then, when he was put in a corner, his master had come to his rescue, to do his best and try to aid his disciple against this terrible foe. Thanks to his level head and intelligence, he was able to feign support for Suzuki and managed to land a powerful punch to the esper's face. Or so he thought. Turned out Suzuki managed to create an etheral clone with his psychic powers, avoiding the hit and preparing to eliminate this bothersome man.

"Hold on, let's cool down for a minute!" Reigen said while nervously walking backward, "I'll back down, I'll do whatever it is you want me to do!"

The psychic was not feeling merciful. "You have managed to put me in a very rotten mood, and for that, I will make this building your official deathbed." Suzuki raised his hand, which began to glow with red energy, and Reigen could do nothing but watch in horror as his life flashed before his eyes.

"NO!" Shigeo felt his blood run cold when he saw Toichiro create a massive explosion which enveloped his master, spewing up large fire and dark clouds in the process.

"That's better," Toichiro said with a smile on his face, but that smile quickly disappeared when he saw what was hidden behind the smoke: an umbrella protecting Reigen. That umbrella belonged to one of Toichiro's top commanders, Katsuya Serizawa. Sent to take care of Shigeo, he was one of the espers fortunate enough to be affected by Shigeo's words and feelings, and thanks to that young boy, he was finally taking a stand against his former boss.

"Thank god I managed to get here in-time," exclaimed Serizawa. Sweat beads rolled down the esper's face as he gathered the strength to speak his next words. "For the first time in my life, I'm trying to actually do the right thing and be brave! That means standing up to you and stopping you from hurting others!" Despite his heart pounding, his veins throbbing, and his hands shaking, Serizawa still found the courage to stand up and fight against evil. This was the action of a good man. No, this was the action of a hero.

"So you've betrayed me," said Toichiro, looking irritated but not saddened or shocked by this defiance of his most powerful soldier. "Then that means your punishment is in order."

"Enough!"

_100%_ _Rage_

The leader of Claw widened his eyes when he felt a strong pressure envelop him.

"I think the time for talking is over."

"Huh?" Suzuki was not startled or afraid of this increase in power, for he knew it was still leagues below his own, but it was still a substantial increase nonetheless.

"Before we continue this, let me give you one last piece of my wisdom," said Shigeo, his aura now rainbow colored and pixilated, "Those who can't understand the feelings of others-" The esper tried to continue, but stopped himself when he realized the futility of his words. "Forget it. A guy like you isn't gonna listen to any advice. No, the only way for me to get that advice through your head is if I jam it in there the hard way."

Reigen and Serizawa were observing this sudden burst of anger from Shigeo with cautious eyes and sweat falling down both of their faces. "Mob's really going all-out."

"What should I do to help you guys?" asked Serizawa.

"Leave with my master and everyone else waiting on the ground and get a safe distance."

This was something Toichiro would not allow, not before enacting his punishment. His red aura formed around him, and he lunged toward Serizawa. "You will not escape the wrath of Toichiro Suzuki!" The evil esper formed a large ball of psychic energy in his hand and attempted to eradicate Reigen and Serizawa, but Mob rushed to their defense and put up a psychic barrier. The friction between Suzuki's energy blast and Kageyama's shield intensified and quickly created an explosion that propelled Reigen, Serizawa and Suzuki's son out of the building.

Shigeo's little brother, Ritsu Kageyama, was looking up and seeing the bodies falling, some motionless and some desperately attempting to break their fall. But then, he noticed something odd forming from the ground.

"Plants?"

Indeed, these plants were being formed by Minegishi, one of Claw's Ultimate 5, comprised of the five most powerful espers of Claw, to save Serizawa and the others from falling. This member of the Ultimate 5 knew what their actions would lead to: this was an act of betrayal against the boss, and it would have dire consequences. But that didn't matter to the esper. "So, the boss really did cast Serizawa aside._ Even though I knew from the start what relationship we were in, I still owe Serizawa one, and I don't want the boss to end his life."_

"Stop it, Minegishi!" Another one of Claw's Ultimate 5, Hatori, ran up to Minegishi to try and stop them from doing this. "If you do this, you'll majorly piss the boss off, and then you'll definitely be killed!"

"Glad to see you're alive, Hatori," Minegishi said.

Toichiro Suzuki walked to the edge of the building and noticed the plants formed to save Serizawa. Only one person he knew could do that. "So Minegishi has turned against me as well. It seems that now, I have been forced into a situation where any of my Claw members can betray me." But this leader's heart was not filled with true compassion for any of his Claw members, and with all of the psychic power he had stockpiled for the last 20 years, it was more than enough to compensate for the betrayal of his Ultimate 5. "Back to the drawing board, then." Suzuki formed a ball of red energy at the tip of his finger.

"Disappear."

With his psychic energy, he created concentrated laser beams that he fired down at the Ultimate 5 and pared the giant plants. The powerful esper gleefully smiled as he laid destruction to the traitors and enemies.

"Disappear! Disappear! DISAPPEAR!"

His fun was quickly interrupted when Mob tackled him at amazing speeds, yelling as he allowed his anger and willpower to fuel his powers and force him back.

"YYYYYYAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Even though Shigeo was feeling the intensity of the battle while shoving Suzuki through concrete, the adult esper was still not nearing the physical and emotional turmoil his opponent was in now. "My my, I didn't take you to be an enthusiastic type," said Suzuki with a neutral tone, preparing to use a mere 10% of his power to strike. He raised his fist, and with a single downward smash, sent Shigeo through three floors.

"With such low power, you're still not even close to my league. That strike was only using 10% of my power, so if what you're showing me now is your 100%, further fighting will lead to one inevitable path."

Out of nowhere, the entire building began to shake. The people on the ground were baffled to see what was happening here, not sure what Mob and Suzuki were doing up there. But for Suzuki, things were beginning to come together.

"Oh, so that's it," said Suzuki, a newly formed smile on his face and a creeping sense of anticipation and pleasure building up inside of him, "You've been provoking an internal reaction to further increase your power."

The young esper knew it was time for him to unleash the fullest extent of his psychic powers, and with the rage building inside of him, he hoped it would be enough.

"Now I'm ready to fight you with everything: all my power, and all my rage!" The showdown between the two most powerful espers on the planet was about to truly commence.

* * *

While the intensity and the stakes were never higher for Shigeo Kageyama in this monumental battle, Izuku Midoriya was having another regular day at his school, Aldera Junior High. The young Midoriya was diligently writing notes down while his teacher lectured to the class, taking in all the information he could. At the moment, this teacher was attempting to impart some wisdom on their futures and their careers.

"Now I've got a list of possible careers," the professor said with a sly smile on his face, noting some of the students growing excited and preparing their quirks. His smile increased, and in a dramatic fashion, he threw the papers into the air.

"But it's pretty obvious you all want to become pro heroes!" The students leaped with joy, unleashing their quirks into the air and yelling in excitement; well, everyone except Midoriya, who was awkwardly looking to the side while he had his hand raised, and another silent student with blonde, messy hair who had his feet reclined on his desk and his eyes staring down at his lap.

The teacher attempted to regain control of the classroom and quell their excitements. "Now now, I know you all have some very unique quirks, but keep them to yourselves! No using quirks in school!"

The silent student interjected with a harsh tone. "Come on, teacher. Stop trying to give these guys false hope: I'm the only one here who's got a real shot at becoming a pro hero." This young man, Katsuki Bakugo, had known praise and greatness all his life. Born with a very powerful quirk that allowed him to create explosions, everyone knew he was a prodigy among quirk users in their town. Ever since he acquired his quirk, he'd been led to believe that he was better than everyone else, that his power made him amazing. But that didn't make his words annoy his peers any less.

"Hey, what are you talking about?"

"Don't think you're all high and mighty!"

"Oh yea?" Bakugo cockily stared at his peers, more than willing to take on any sort of challenge, "If you wanna fight, I'll take on all of you at once! Just say the word!"

The teacher looked at his notes and knew that Bakugo was indeed exceptional. "Your test results are indeed impressive. With scores like these, a spot at U.A. High is indeed within your reach." Gasps of shock befell all of the students in the classroom, and murmurs spread as well.

"U.A. High? That place has a .2% acceptance rate!"

"Going there's impossible!"

Bakugo relished the shocked expressions on his classmates' faces, and his cocky smile only widened. "Which is exactly why only someone like me is worthy of getting into there!" The hot-headed boy jumped off of his seat and stood on top of his desk, preparing to boastfully gloat his excellence.

"After acing all the mach tests, there's no way U.A. could reject me now! And once I get in, I'll train to become a better and more powerful hero than even All Might!" Bakugo clenched his fist in excitement, "I'll become the richest hero of all time, and everyone around the world will remember my name for generations!"

While Bakugo monologued, the teacher looked at his notes and realized something else interesting. "I forgot, Midoriya. You also want to attend U.A. High, right?"

Bakugo instantly froze up when he heard this, and Midoriya felt his cheeks become as hot as magma, hiding his face in his arm with utter embarrassment. Everyone in the room looked at Midoriya in silence for a second, leaving the boy confused by what they were thinking. But Midoriya had that made clear when everyone in the room, barring the teacher and Bakugo, burst out in complete and hysterical laughter. Every student in the class knew Midoriya as the only one without a quirk.

To everyone in the class and quite frankly the world, it was Quirks that made people special. It made them recognized, it made them popular, and most importantly, it made them heroes. To them, the idea that a Quirkless kid with nothing special and an idiotically optimistic attitude was just the pinnacle of humor.

"That can't be right!"

"Does Midoriya have a screw loose or something?"

"My god, he can't even apply to U.A. High without a quirk!"

Midoriya tried his best to defend himself. "No no, they got rid of that rule! If I tried out for the exam, I could become the first Quirkless student to pass!" This statement caused the blood in Bakugo's body to boil, and in an anger-driven moment, he slammed his hand down on Midoriya's desk. The boy landed on his butt and looked up with utter fear while Bakugo stared him down with enraged eyes.

"Now let me try and put this through your head, Deku!" That was the derogatory name Bakugo had given Midoriya ever since they were kids. "Even among these weaklings, you're in an entirely different and more pathetic level! Do you really delude yourself into thinking U.A. would accept a Quirkless nobody like you when they have a powerful hero like me ready to join them!"

Midoriya backed up to the wall in a hurried panic and held a hand up to try and defuse the situation. "Wait, you're getting things mixed up, Bakugo! I don't want to try and compete with you or take away your spot at U.A.! All I want... is to become a pro hero. It's what I've wanted ever since I was a kid."

"Oh come on!" Bakugo began to form smoke from his hands, and his eyes began daggers. "When it comes down to it, you'd never be able to keep up with pro heroes! Hell, I'm positive that even the entrance exam would be a death sentence!" This comment elicited a few chuckles from the students in the class. "This school doesn't need to have its reputation get any worse with you trying and failing the entrance exams!"

Izuku Midoriya couldn't help but look down in disappointment and embarrassment as everyone in the class mocked his dream. He knew he didn't have any powers, but it didn't mean that it was impossible to get into UA High. In his heart, Midoriya still felt there was a good chance for him to become a hero, to become the savior of the public and to defend them from the worst of villains with a confident smile. And he would never let anyone trample that dream!

* * *

Shigeo Kageyama was practically living a pro hero's best and worst nightmare: fighting the boss of an organization of superpowered humans while everyone cheered him on and the fate of the city rested in his hands. It was the classic telling of good and evil: Shigeo Kageyama, the hero who was blessed with psychic powers and a pure heart, was fighting for his life against the villain Toichiro Suzuki, an evil man who wanted the world in the palm of his hands. To many people, such a despicable monster had to be defeated without mercy because it was the only option. It was a hero's duty.

But Shigeo Kageyama didn't see it this way. Quite frankly, he never once viewed himself as a hero or really factored in whether or not what he was doing was in the name of justice. To him, all that mattered was protecting the people he loved, and what made him even more pure was that he actually wanted to try and change the villains he was fighting: in his heart, he felt that all these espers and enemies he fought were simply misguided souls, and all Shigeo wanted to do was guide them on the right path.

This was why he cried actual tears for his opponent: in the intensity of battle, as the immense psychic powers were used to lift dozens of buildings into the sky, his emotions toiled and churned, and the grief of fighting to mortally hurt this man was too much. He still tried to get through to him, to make him see the error of his ways and why his path of world domination was wrong. This was who Shigeo was, and it was why he cried when he tried to crush Suzuki with more than one hundred buildings all crammed into a giant sphere.

But the terrible truth was that it STILL wasn't enough. The darkness covering Suzuki's heart and the lack of true understanding of the emotions of others prevented Shigeo's actions from having the impact they would usually have. So as Suzuki rushed Mob, the darker impulses beginning to run him as the battle extended, the young esper was at a loss for what to do. Now using 80% of his power, Toichiro's veins bulged, the crimson aura around him growing larger and more malevolent, and with this rage now fueling him, he grabbed Shigeo's ankle and tossed him to the ground at amazing speeds, sending him crashing through the sphere of buildings.

As Mob laid on the ground, a feeling of hopelessness creeping into his heart, he did nothing as the giant sphere of buildings came crashing down onto him, creating a huge cloud of dust.

In the sky, Suzuki was trying to get a handle on the amount of power he was exuding. Never before had he unleashed even 40% of his power, and now he was releasing twice that amount. This power was coursing through, emanating from his eyes as streams of red energy and acting like a monstrous river that was unleashing his darkest side. These were the emotions of a true villain!

"I've never felt like this before. It's my first time ever using 80%!" Suzuki had been pushing his psychic powers more than ever before: the overwhelming energy, the rush of the battle, the basic instinct to survive and overpower his enemy, it was distorting his brain, making it more twisted, battle-hungry, and barbaric than even he thought possible. It was why even as the child laid motionless on the ground, he could not simply wait for him to recover. His primal urge for combat and blood were too great.

"What's the matter? Weren't you just giving me some big moral lecture?" The psychic lifted his opponent into the air. Then, from the palm of his hand, he released an explosion. Even a single explosion had deadly power, creating a blast more than a dozen meters in diameter. However, Suzuki wasn't going for something so small. The malicious esper proceeded to release dozens upon dozens of blasts, maintaining a continuous barrage of immense explosions that enveloped the entire area they were fighting, expanding more than two thousand meters in diameter and several hundred meters in height. All of the nearby buildings were obliterated, bits of stone and glass flying in all directions.

"Aren't you going to give another sermon? What else do you have to say? What can you possibly teach me now?" The psychic decided to follow up with some more basic but still devastating psychic powers. He reached both of his palms outwards, and a miniaturized blizzard blew out, sweeping through more than a third of the city and freezing everything in its path. Then, a small orange ball of fire flickered to life in between his hands. At first, it looked gentle and harmless, like the flame of a candle on a dark and lonely night.

But the ball of fire began to churn. The psychic energy being channeled into it caused it to bulge, spewing out flares and scorching the nearby concrete. Even more frightening was how the soft, gentle orange changed into a deep blue. Miyagawa, a Scar and an experienced wielder of pyrokinesis, couldn't hope to increase the heat of his flames to such high temperatures. Suzuki cackled with glee, and unleashed the firestorm onto his enemy. The ice melted away in an instant, along with the concrete and other debris, leaving nothing but smoldering lava and the smell of burnt rock.

To finish the combo attack off, Suzuki raised both of his hands up and thrust them down, unleashing massive gusts of wind that blew throughout the city, putting the fires out and sending the young esper flying through the air like a ragdoll.

Watching from afar, the spectators were at a loss for what they were seeing: the raw power Toichiro Suzuki was displaying was unlike anything they had ever seen before. So many powers, such devastation they could bring, it only showed them how wide the gap was between them and him. With this kind of strength, they weren't sure who would emerge the victor: for Arataka Reigen, his thoughts were only on ensuring Shigeo's safety.

"Come on, Mob. If you feel you can't win, then it's okay for you to run away. Defeating this guy isn't your responsibility!"

The unbelievable display of psychic powers could not persuade the teenage esper to retaliate or even get up to his feet, so he continued to lay on the ground. "Get up!" The leader of Claw used his telekinesis to lift the motionless Mob up to the sky again. "This battle is not over, not even close. Simply surrendering and acting like a punching bag isn't going to cut it!" Letting his rage and lust for battle consume him, Toichiro grabbed Shigeo's jacket and screamed, "STAND UP AND FIGHT"

"No, I'm done."

Suzuki let out a faint gasp. What did he say? Was Mob actually surrendering? It appeared he was: unlike the traditional hero, Shigeo Kageyama simply didn't have the drive to keep on fighting, to stand up against true villainy. It just... wasn't in his nature.

"It pains me to say it, but I'm just not strong enough. I don't have what it takes to show you a better path to follow in life. Sorry."

Alas, the dark impulses running Suzuki would not allow this to stand. He yelled and formed a whip of psychic energy, lashing the young boy multiple times, drawing blood and destroying his outfit.

"You're the one who's awakened these dark and destructive impulses! It's your responsibility to deal with what you've brought!"

Shigeo tried to form a barrier to block the attacks, yet it proved to be futile. "I won't allow you to run off and hide in your shell now!" Suzuki formed a red stream of energy which effortlessly tore through Shigeo's barrier and sent him flying to the ground. The leader of Claw followed up by extending his palm downward, using his telekinesis to create a giant imprint of his hand in the ground.

Then, a very unexpected thing happened: Suzuki's hand twisted. The adult esper convulsed when he felt this new, malevolent energy.

Turned out, something inside Mob had snapped. After witnessing the destructiveness and hatred Toichiro Suzuki was displaying, how little his words were having on him, and what more he could do if left unchecked, the young esper realized that he was fighting someone that couldn't be changed by him. However, Suzuki was someone that could be stopped by him. It wasn't so he could be the hero, it wasn't so he could claim victory, it was simply to stop all this destruction. And another thing was certain: at that moment, Mob did not feel like a hero.

_100% Resignation_

"I give up." The esper's pupils were now maroon red, and all sense of light or compassion within them was snuffed out. Now, cold-blooded ruthlessness was fueling his powers. "I was desperately hoping that I could change you, make you turn over a new leaf to become a better person, but that hope is gone." While he was speaking, Suzuki's entire arm was now twisting like one would twist a wet rag, and quickly followed the rest of his body, which was turning in places the human body was never meant to turn.

"It appears-" said Suzuki while groaning in agony, "That we're both influencing -GRRAAHH- each other quite a bit!"

"You're right, but despite my best efforts, I failed at being a positive influence on you. So with this, we both lose!"

Now Toichiro's body and limb location was barely recognizable as human. No one could possibly continue after being so terribly disfigured like this. Or so Mob thought.

As a last resort to survive and reign victorious, Toichiro unleashed the maximum extent of the power he stockpiled for 20 years.

_100%_

"Wait..." The red murder in Mob's eyes faded when he saw the bright light beaming from Suzuki's body. That light was psychic energy, which formed into multiple balls of energy that shot out in multiple directions. One of these balls sent Mob flying, and the sheer energy channeled into this attack was more than the young esper could handle. The force of the attack caused the left side of his shirt to be ripped apart, leaving his left shoulder and arm exposed and vaporizing a small bag of seeds in his shirt pocket.

"I think... this is the end for me!" The looming fate of death was close to consuming him, and the esper was ready to accept this inevitable fate.

"MOB, NO!"

Shigeo drew a sharp breath. It was his master calling out to him, yelling out in fear for his life. That's right. They were all waiting for him to win, to come back to them so they could go home, enjoy their time with him. Everyone he cared about, everyone he loved and who'd done their best to support him, made a difference in his life, made him smile. It was thanks to them he was who he was. All of those people were counting on him to keep on living! And he couldn't just leave them behind and accept death like this!

So instead of accepting his death and leaving everyone he knew behind, he dug his feet into the ground, clasped his hands around the ball of energy, and prepared to finish this fight.

"No, I can handle this. It doesn't come close to the fear of losing everything I have!" Shigeo gathered the strength to crush the ball in his hands, splitting it into hundreds of tiny pieces of psychic energy.

A sensation he had felt only once before was now returning to him. It was during his battle with Keiji Mogami in the mental mindscape to save a girl, when he came to realize what he could with these powers, the good that could be done by saving people. When he entered this state for the first time, he felt all sense of fear and panic leave his soul, and the only thing that was on his mind, even when staring in the face of the most powerful opponent he ever met and his army of malevolent spirits, was fighting to save the life of a young girl.

He didn't realize it, but it was in this state that he was at his strongest. That determination to save life, to stand up against the evil threatening innocents, it was the strongest fuel for his powers he ever imagined. When he was in this state, it was only then that he became a hero of justice. Body, mind and soul.

So as he fell down into an underground reservoir and began sinking into the water, he dug deep, drew upon the willpower to stand up and fight against evil, and began to power up for the fight of his life.

_100% Courage_

* * *

Izuku Midoriya was still having his own conflict. After class ended, he was only further tormented by Bakugo and his lowly accomplices. The blonde-haired bully took the notebook Izuku was writing in, where he kept all his notes about being a hero, and did a truly despicable thing: after burning the outside, he threw it out the window, to the horror of Midoriya. Then, for the creme de la creme, he actually suggested to Midoriya that he commit suicide in hopes of getting a quirk in a new life.

Izuku wanted to stop it. He wanted the confidence and the will to stand up against his oppressor and tell him he would not tolerate being treated like scum. But fear and hopelessness still stirred in his heart, knowing the undeniable gap in power between himself and Bakugo, and that any attempt of combat would result in broken bones and damaged organs.

With his hands firmly gripping the straps of his backback, Midoriya walked outside with a scowl on his face. "What kind of bastard would tell someone to kill themselves?" mumbled Midoriya, "And what if I actually went through with it? Would he just laugh and say it was for the best?"

The student's eyes caught some fish trying to chew on his burnt book. "Would you look at that. My dreams are now fish food." The boy picked up the book and looked at it with a growing sense of frustration. The hopelessness of his dreams coupled with the anger towards Bakugo didn't make a good mix, and all it did was make Midoriya's soul turn bleaker and bleaker.

"Jerk..."

* * *

Standing on all fours like a beast was Toichiro Suzuki, looking for his enemy. The effects of all that psychic energy stored in his body were quite dramatic: his muscles had increased to drastic size, tearing off most of his clothes. His skin was pale grey, but most dramatic was with literal fire engulfing his head and some of his body, making him appear like a monster of death.

When Suzuki noticed Mob within the water, he leapt down and prepared a punch, but this time, Shigeo was more ready than ever. The water began to swirl around the young esper like a vortex, and in the center of that vortex, a newly empowered Shigeo Kageyama stood. In this state, his eyes sparkled red with passion instead of hatred, and his hair stood up with anticipation. THIS was the ultimate climax of the battle: the moment when the lines between good and evil were decided, and when the hero and the villain became their true selves.

The phenomenal esper released his aura, his bravery and shining spirit giving him renewed passion.

"BODY IMPROVEMENT! FIGHT ON!"

Shigeo craned his arm back and swung his fist, colliding with Toichiro's fist and creating unbelievable force, though the teenage esper felt a quick jolt of pain. All of the water in the reservoir was dissipated throughout the chamber, destroying some of the pillars in the process, and the two espers were sent flying back. But as Shigeo attempted to get his footing, Suzuki appeared from above him and slammed him through a pillar. While the young esper was flying, he sent a pillar at Suzuki to stop him, but the villain's intense psychic energy and heat allowed him to easily make his way through the pillar.

Shigeo noticed his enemy rapidly approaching, and prepared another punch, which clashed yet again with Suzuki's punch and created powerful shockwaves that reverberated throughout the chamber and destroyed even more pillars. This time, however, the esper could not keep up with his opponent's superior power, and he howled in pain when he felt his arm muscles contract and blood draw from his upper arm.

Suzuki slammed him with a right downward punch, causing the teenage esper to cough up blood and be momentarily disoriented as he crashed into the ground and created a very large crater. The leader of Claw leapt down to land another punch, when suddenly, his left arm bulged to massive size, releasing bright white energy. Then, all of his muscles began to increase to ridiculous sizes. It was the strain of the overwhelming energy: Suzuki had unleashed too much of his energy at once to sustain this new form, and he could no longer maintain it.

Mob noticed this and realized the golden opportunity. "I can end it right here!" The esper unleashed a wave of energy which blew away all of the light and fire, revealing an extremely charred, frail body. But what Mob didn't realize was that inside this seemingly broken body, lied energy with cataclysmic potential.

Several beams of white energy burst out of his body, and the black skin now had lines of white being etched into him. Mob could feel the immeasurable energy slowly being released from Suzuki's body, and knew that this could only mean trouble. "If all this energy comes out at once, it'll... it'll..." The realization caused his stomach to twist in knots and send his brain into panic mode.

"It's gonna explode!"

The first thought that crossed his mind was alerting everyone else of what was about to come.

"Everyone, get out of here now!" The esper sprinted out to the spectators, all of them relieved to see that Shigeo was still alive. However, the first thing that caught Reigen's attention was the blood streaming down his disciple's arm.

"You all have to leave, right now! This entire place is going to be leveled!"

"But Mob! My god, what did he do to you," exclaimed Reigen, "You're bleeding like crazy!"

"Never mind that!" replied Mob, "Suzuki ended up releasing too much energy at once and lost control! With so much psychic energy left unchecked, it's just gonna keep growing and churning until it explodes! It's a ticking time bomb!"

Hanazawa realized the gravity of the situation and knew they didn't have any time to waste. "If what you're saying is true, then it looks like we don't have any choice but to run! Everyone, come on!" All of the spectators took the hint and began running without looking back. They all felt that there was nothing left to do, no way to stop the impending annihilation of the city. But there was one soul who did not want to think like that, one soul who couldn't help but feel sadness, knowing Suzuki would be left alone in his final moments.

As Toichiro Suzuki laid with his knees bent in front of him and his hands resting on his thighs, his body glowing white and small cackles of black electricity shooting out of him, he could sense the presence of his foe and knew what was going to come next.

"You're making the right move. It's the one that has to be made: to end my life, severing the source of the energy before the explosion happens and saving the city." But Suzuki didn't know Shigeo well enough: instead of making the simplest choice of ending his life, the young esper put up a barrier around both of them.

"What is this? What're you doing?" said Suzuki.

"I'm going to try and contain the explosion," replied Shigeo. Now that the two of them were alone and the battle was over, the adult esper lamented his failures and the failures of Mob.

"So despite your best efforts, you haven't only failed at defeating me, but you couldn't save your friends, your family, or even yourself. How tragic. With the unbelievable power you have, this situation should have been handled much better."

"I may have psychic powers, but they can't solve all of my problems. But you know what? They don't have to." This statement caused Suzuki to let out a hum of confusion, and his confusion was only heightened when he saw the smile on the teenage esper's face. What purpose would he have to smile like this despite knowing both of them were now very close to their deaths?

"Because even without my powers, I still have a choice, and I control my own destiny. I get to be the protagonist, it's my life." The adult esper could tell that the teenage esper's words were honest, his smile was real, a genuine demonstration of personal affection towards him, though Mob's words were only surprising him even more. After seeing the lengths he went to try and end him before, why would he be attempting to show Suzuki support?

"That's the reason I came here to be by your side. Because no matter how much I dislike you, how disappointed I may be in what you've done, I can't just leave you here to suffer on your own. That would be too sad.

"And that's why... I'm not going anywhere. I'm here for you."

_100% Kindness_

At long last, the rays of light began to break through the veil of darkness covering Toichiro's heart. With this feeling of empathy and compassion Shigeo was showing him, it reminded him of a feeling someone very close to him once shared. The only person Toichiro Suzuki ever felt true affection for: his wife.

Memories of their time together came flooding back to Suzuki: she had tried to show him how love and gentleness were key to treating others. But Suzuki stubbornly refused to listen: convinced of the undeniable truth that power was the way to win the hearts of people, as well as the necessity of ruthlessness and violence, he did not take the words of his wife to heart, and then, she walked out of his life. When she left his life, a part of him left with her, though all these years, he was too proud to acknowledge that.

"I thought I could reunite with her once I conquered the world." Suzuki didn't realize he'd said this out loud until he saw Mob's eyebrows furrow upward. Even then, the adult esper didn't stop, speaking with the same honesty Mob had used all this time. "It turns out my way was wrong." Suzuki's eyes were downcast, and he hunched his shoulders in shame. "Now, I don't even have the chance to apologize..."

So these were his emotions, the soft side of him hidden deep away in his heart covered with darkness and selfishness. He felt actual regret. He actually cared about someone and wished to reunite with them.

"Is that right?" Now that Mob could see what his enemy was really thinking, it only heightened his resolve not to let him die.

"At least let me end it myself." Suzuki wanted to at least go out with some shred of dignity and respect, curling his hand into a fist to stab himself in the chest.

"Then I'll give you that chance!" The young esper grasped Suzuki's hand to stop his suicide attempt, and as soon as he did, his entire body felt like it was lit on fire. The young boy was screaming in pain, the white energy that enveloped Suzuki now shifting to Shigeo's body and causing his eyes to turn white as well.

"If I can absorb this," yelled Shigeo, "I can save everyone!"

"No, it won't work! You'll die if-" The boy's screams became louder, and the energy only increased. While he was absorbing Toichiro's energy, he managed to get faint glimpses of his memories, and could see it was his wife, someone he loved, who he wanted.

"You said you wanted to apologize to your wife, right? Then find her! Say it loud and clear!"

Shigeo didn't know whether or not this would work, or whether or not he would die absorbing this energy, but it didn't matter to him: right now, the only person on his mind was Tsubomi. "You have to! The same goes for me! I need to tell someone how I feel about them too!"

What Shigeo failed to realize was that his confession would have to wait a while. As the energy stored inside of Suzuki combined with Shigeo's psychic power which was elevated to 100%, something insane was happening. As the two powerful energy sources clashed and combined within Mob's body, the insurmountable energy created a rift which broke through the very fabric of space and time.

Shigeo nor Toichiro could have ever imagined that their psychic powers would be strong enough to tear through reality. The white energy around Shigeo began to change into multiple colors, forming many different textures around him. Then, the young esper screamed, and with a brilliant final flash of light, Shigeo Kageyama was sent through the timespace rift and into another dimension. And little did this dimension know the kind of power and change that was coming its way.

* * *

"Come back here, you crook!" In a city that had just dealt with some bothersome villains, a sludge-like monster was sprinting through the city. This monster was merely a criminal with a quirk that allowed his body to turn into sludge, which gave him several useful features and allowed him to carry the money he stole in the folds of his sludge body.

"HAHAHA! Too late now, suckers! I've got your cash, and there's nothing you can do about it!" As this villain continued sprinting through the city, the bystanders watching this were shocked by how no resistance was being mounted to stop this villain.

"Hey, how come there aren't any heroes stopping this guy?"

"Doesn't make sense."

"I guess it's because of all the drama that unfolded with that villain from this morning."

"Guess he's just gonna get away."

A group of three civilians were conversing among themselves. Behind them, an ordinary man with a very frail figure, a white t-shirt and baggy green pants had just finished purchasing some groceries. But this ordinary man had an absolutely astounding secret. If these three men had decided to turn around, they would have discovered the man behind them beginning to bulk up his entire body, managing to gain a few feet in height.

"No, he will not," the man said, overhearing the conversation the three citizens were having. They turned around, and gasped: standing before them, the number one hero, All Might, was ready to get into action. "Do you know why?"

The sludge villain turned his head when he heard the sound of someone rapidly approaching him, and he felt he was about to faint.

"Because I am here!"

* * *

Walking home alone, Izuku Midoriya reminisced on the day when he learned he didn't have a quirk, the day when his mother didn't tell him the words he needed to hear. "Why couldn't you understand that?" said Midoriya, "Was it so hard?"

But the quirkless boy would STILL not let the lack of faith from others and the seemingly large obstacles in his way stop him from achieving his dream. "I can't let Bakugo get to me! Whether he cares or not, my dream of becoming a hero is a part of me, and I can't just let that part of me be silent! So to hell with what he says! I'll be a hero, whether he or anyone else thinks I can't! And I'll do it with a smile, just like All Might!"

Out of the blue, Izuku was rocked by a sudden loud burst. In a field of grass to his right, the young boy saw some sort of sphere of energy appear out of nowhere.

"Whha-wha-What is that?"

This sphere of energy was emanating all sorts of colors and shooting out some sort of lightning. The power of this thing was enough to knock Midoriya off of his feet and create strong gusts of wind. But wait! Midoriya squinted, and noticed a humanoid form in the center of this sphere. He clutched his heart and squealed. "A villain! Some sort of villain is here!" The young boy quickly got up to his feet and prepared to sprint. "I have to run and call for help, or else I'll be-"

Midoriya stopped his sprint when the sphere of energy began to quickly run out of energy. Once this happened, the young student was able to get a better look at exactly who it was inside that sphere of energy, and whether or not it was a villain he recognized. Well, his guesses were proven very wrong: not only was it not a villain inside of that sphere, it wasn't even an adult. It looked like... a kid!

"That's... a kid? He... he looks like he's my age!" Once the light completely faded around this unknown child, he could clearly see the school uniform he wore, as well as the tears on that uniform and the blood running down his arm. For a moment, this unknown person just stood perfectly still with his eyes looking aimlessly into the sky. Then, he fell to his knees and passed out cold on the ground.

Izuku Midoriya was unsure what to think of this. He cautiously walked toward this stranger, making sure to be alert and to be prepared for any surprises. When he finally stood over this young man's body, he very slowly reached for his arm and turned him so his face was looking up.

"Who are you?"

* * *

**And that, my friends, is the start of Shigeo Kageyama's glorious adventure in the world of My Hero Academia! Although most of this chapter was re-explaining events of the respective storylines, I felt that I needed to sort of set the mood of the story. I also wanted to try and contrast both narratives of Shigeo and Izuku to show how different they are in some respects. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this crossover, and try and be patient as you wait for Chapter 2 of 100 Percent Hero!**


	2. Confusion

**Chapter 2 is up! You'll see what happened with Shigeo and Izuku and how things are going to go down now that Shigeo is officially part of the My Hero Academia universe!**

* * *

"Who are you?"

The young student couldn't fit the pieces together. And where did he come from? Midoriya had a general view of the area, and he didn't see any other student nearby. He didn't recognize this student from his school. More importantly, why was he injured? The blood on his arm seemed to be rather new, which meant he must have been in some sort of trouble or fight. But then what caused this? There were so many questions that Midoriya didn't have a single answer to.

Midoriya was so focused on trying to figure out where this teenager came from, he was completely oblivious to the giant mass of sludge oozing out of a nearby drain. After being chased by All Might, he immediately knew that trying to fight him was suicide, so he decided to take advantage of his sludge quirk and retreated through the sewer. Thanks to his body mixing well with the sewage and the darkness of the tunnels, he was able to escape All Might's grasp for the time being. But knowing his speed and senses, he knew he'd eventually be caught. On top of that, he'd need some sort of disguise now that his appearance would be publicly known.

As he reformed his body, he noticed a young boy standing out in the open, next to another unconscious body. What the hell was this? He took note of the unconscious boy's torn clothes and bleeding on his arm. Was he beaten up by that kid? The sludge monster gave a wicked smile: if that was the case, then the kid who knocked him unconscious must have a pretty strong quirk! And if it turned out he was a weakling, then he would just take over the body of the unconscious kid to see if he was stronger or not.

"You're mine now, brat!" Izuku Midoriya lifted his head up and could only cower in fear as this mass of sludge attacked him and threw him to the ground. Midoriya gagged when he felt the disgusting sludge enter into his mouth and try to cram itself down his throat. "Once I fully enter your body, I'll be able to control you and use whatever quirk you used to beat that kid down! Don't worry! Only 45 more seconds, and it'll be over!"

Izuku Midoriya felt an overwhelming sense of terror and sadness overtaking him, tears welling in his eyes both from his emotions and from the pain of the sludge entering his body. He began to act on survival instincts and flailed his limbs around, grasping the sludge with his hands, but it was pointless. It was like trying to grab water. As the seconds passed by, his strength was being sapped, his consciousness slipping away from him. If only Shigeo was awake, if Izuku had managed to shake him and get his attention, the esper might've been able to muster up enough strength to contain or dissipate this sludge villain, but now, it looked as though young Midoriya was nearing his end.

Before the young child could even try to begin his journey as a hero, it was already over before it began. "Come on, please!" thought Midoriya, looking to the unconscious teenager for assistance, "Wake up! I need you! Someone, please!" The tears now streamed down the young student's face, and his soul was in torment as he tried to resist his approaching death.

Death was farther than he thought: rising up from the sewer, the number one hero, All Might, had finally found the sludge monster. The villain turned around and widened his eyes with total fear. Despite chasing this monster, the bag of groceries were still in the hero's hand, but that didn't make All Might any less of a threat. "Do not worry, young child! I am here to save you!"

The sludge villain whipped his tendril, but All Might easily dodged the blow and quickly advanced toward the monster. He desperately attacked All Might with another tendril, but it was too late: bending his knees down and craning his arm back, the symbol of peace prepared one of his special moves to take care of this villain.

"Texas Smash!" All Might's amazing power allowed his punch to create giant gusts of wind that split the sludge villain into several pieces, freeing Izuku from his grip.

"Impossible!" said the villain, "His punch can create wind pressure this powerful?" Unfortunately for him, he didn't have the strength to regroup his body despite it being homogenous, rendering him weakened and unconscious.

Even though he had split the foe into several pieces, he knew this wasn't the time to celebrate. "I have to act quickly!" All Might knew that he had to gather up this villain's remains and trap him before he could muster up enough strength to fight again. But what would he used to contain them?

"I know..." The hero grabbed a bottle of soda out of his bag. He grunted in mild annoyance, and unscrewed the cap so he could dump all the liquid out onto the grass. Then, using his immense speed and strength, All Might briskly ran up to all the pieces of sludge and scooped all the sludge into the bottle. Although he was forced to cram the last pieces of sludge into the bottle, he nevertheless managed to get the foe contained in about three minutes.

Now that he had the villain contained, his attention was now on helping the young boy that the sludge villain had trapped. But wait! Lying unconscious a few feet beside him, another young boy had his shirt torn and his arm bleeding profusely. The hero felt a feeling of dread fill him, and he slapped his hand onto his eye.

"Look at what that sludge villain did to this child," murmured All Might, "How could I have been so careless?"

To think that this villain could have dealt so much damage within such a short period of time! It couldn't have been less than a minute since he lost the homogenous foe. The symbol of peace grimaced, a rarity to see for the hero whose trademark smile was recognized by everyone.

He had to check if they were alive! The first one he went to was the child with more grievous injuries. He rushed up to him and began to tap him on the cheek multiple times. It took about twenty slaps before the young teenager's eyes began to flutter open. The esper's vision cleared, and who would have imagined that the first person he would see in this world full of new heroes would be the number one hero himself.

"Thank goodness!" exclaimed All Might, "I'm so sorry that you got injured like that! Usually I'm more cautious in my work, but I got sloppy!"

"Huh?"

"Hold on just a moment while I wake up your friend!"

"...friend?" Shigeo turned to his right, and saw an unconscious child lying in the grass next to him. The esper rubbed his eyes and tried to come back to his senses while All Might went to Midoriya's side and tried to bring him back to consciousness. Once Izuku woke up, his reaction to seeing All Might was expectedly more dramatic: he felt his heart come to a stop, and he immediately slid back across the grass in shock.

"A-A-A"

"What is this?" said Shigeo, "Who are you?"

Izuku's shock of amazement was redirected when he heard this absolutely ludicrous question, and the young student was momentarily gasping for air. Even All Might couldn't help but be surprised at the idea that someone didn't know who he was.

"You're joking, right?" said Midoriya, "You can't be serious! This is All Might!" The student dramatically shot his hands out towards All Might, "The number one hero! The symbol of peace! The most amazing hero of all time! He's everybody's hope and the ultimate defense against evil! You would have to live under a rock to not know who he is!"

"Now hold on," said All Might, "While I appreciate your praise, try to curb your enthusiasm." The number one hero grabbed both bottles with the sludge villain trapped inside, "After all, this young child was obviously beaten badly by the sludge monster."

"Sludge monster?"

"No." Midoriya calmed himself down and set aside his overwhelming geeky attitude to get some of the facts straight and have some important questions answered. "Actually, the sludge monster didn't do that to him. He appeared out of nowhere in some sort of bright light, and when I saw him, he was already injured."

"What?" exclaimed All Might. Appeared out of nowhere? Already injured? If the sludge monster didn't injure him, then exactly what did?

Mob wasn't understanding what they were talking about. "What is anyone doing here," said Mob, "The city was evacuated."

All Might and Midoriya looked at each other and back at Mob with confused stares, only creating more confusion and frustration within Mob.

_30%_

"Because of the esper attack! I was just in the middle of this huge fight that destroyed the-" The young esper looked around him and saw that everything around him was perfectly fine and undamaged, no trace of the destruction that had occurred during his fight with Toichiro. More perplexing was the fact that it was day time, but last Mob recalled, it was evening when he confronted the boss of Claw, and several storm clouds covered the sky. What did this mean?

_58%_

Mob's voice rose, and his face began to twist with frustration. "This is Seasoning City, right?"

All Might and Midoriya's faces became more sullen and serious, and both of them slowly shook their heads. "I've never heard of Seasoning City before," said Midoriya, "and I haven't seen anything on the news about any kind of attack or evacuation."

Shigeo felt a sudden coldness hit his core. The young esper couldn't process what was happening. What was happening? How could he have been transported to this new place, and how come it was the middle of the day? How could no one have heard about the evacuation of Seasoning City or what was happening to the city on the news? This should have been a big deal, something that a lot of people should have learned.

But something else was off: when he absorbed Suzuki's explosive amount of energy, he felt something change inside of him. It was as if the psychic energy overflowing within him caused some sort of reaction within him. He couldn't explain it, but something happened when he absorbed that energy. But what? What could've happened that brought him to this seemingly new place? Overwrought with confusion and a growing sense of fear, he grabbed both of his hands to his face and bent his back forward while silently mumbling to himself.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no..."

The hero did not like what he was seeing. This child seemed to be in great distress. "Now let's calm down for a moment." All Might approached Mob slowly and bent his knees down to try and get on his level and appear as non-threatening as possible. "Let's try to work our way through this. I'm sure your family and friends are around here somewhere."

"Master, Ritsu, Hanazawa, Dimple, everyone else," said Shigeo, "They were all here with me less than a minute ago. What's happening? None of this makes any sense."

_92%_

Neither All Might nor Midoriya understood what was about to happen. Although his powers were pushed to the limit when he absorbed Toichiro's energy and traveled through the dimensional rift, his emotions were beginning to run wild. The confusion of where he was and how he managed to get transported to this entirely new place, and more importantly, the fear of possibly having lost everything he ever knew, was pushing his psychic powers beyond their limits.

Midoriya saw several pieces of rock and earth begin to rise up out of the ground. A chill of fear ran down his spine when he saw a bright aura begin to manifest itself around Shigeo. Likewise, All Might's face began to show signs of uneasiness, and a single sweat drop fell down the side of his face.

"Young child, ar-"

_100% Confusion_

Overwhelmed by all of these new revelations and the possibility that he lost his friends and family, the young boy had no control of his psychic powers. Acting on pure impulse and practicing no restraint, the young esper unleashed his phenomenal psychic powers. Several large pieces of rock now floated up in the air. Nearby, some of smaller buildings began to break off from their foundations and floated several meters into the air. Then, Shigeo's aura burst out like a bomb as he screamed with primal fear, confusion, and frustration.

Midoriya gasped, and could do nothing but scream in horror as he was sent flying through the air and into the city. All Might was also pushed back by this sudden burst of psychic energy, although thanks to his superior strength, he was able to dig his feet into the ground and prevent himself from flying off. However, he saw Midoriya soaring helplessly, and he immediately reacted. He jumped up as fast as he could, his resounding speed and reflexes allowing him to reach the young student just before he slammed into a building.

All Might grabbed Midoriya in the nick of time and covered his entire body as the hero was slammed through not one, but two entire buildings, creating about a dozen holes as All Might crashed through a dozen walls. Although the speed and force of his collisions were quite potent, the number one hero was relatively unfazed.

"Young man, are you alright," said All Might. He looked down, and was relieved to see that the student had taken no damage. Midoriya's eyes met his hero's stern gaze, and in a state of shock, could only lightly nod in confirmation.

"Thank goodness." The number one hero held Midoriya in his arms, and to the teenager's surprise, sprinted down the holes that he had just made and jumped down to the ground. Once he made it to the ground, he gently put Midoriya down and took a fighting stance to fight the psychic teenager. Whoever this person was, All Might needed to take care of him right now before he could do any more damage or threaten any more lives.

"Get out of here now!" shouted All Might, "I'll handle this!"

"All Might..." The young student directed All Might's attention to Shigeo, and the hero gasped: tears were streaming down the boy's face. The esper's shouts were howls of pain, and it was horrifying enough that even All Might felt his chest constrict. The hero had seen enough helpless victims and people in despair to recognize one. This was not the face of a villain who wanted to wreak destruction: it was of a boy who was lost and horrified by what was happening.

Fortunately for All Might and Midoriya, this sudden power-up was only a momentary burst: due to the strain his body had been put through by absorbing the massive psychic energy, this 100% state could no longer be maintained.

After only ten seconds, Shigeo Kageyama's aura flickered out of existence, and all of the floating buildings and other debris crashed back down onto the ground. The number one hero maintained his fighting stance, and held out his hand to Midoriya while slowly advancing forward. The symbol of peace stood above the once again unconscious body of this unknown child.

"What incredible power..." murmured All Might.

"All Might, what... what's happening here?" Midoriya's curiosity made him defy All Might's order, and he was standing alongside the hero, looking down at this child with equal confusion of All Might.

"I'm... I'm not sure." The number one hero was wrapping his brain around this whole situation, trying to figure out what to do about this. It was clear that something had just happened to this child, something very dramatic and dangerous that gave him the injuries he had now. What exactly happened had yet to be explained. But there was something All Might saw very clearly: this child was dangerous. Whether or not what he did just now was intentional, the kind of destruction he could bring with his powers was grievous. If he dropped him off at the police station or at the hospital to treat his minor injuries, he could potentially destroy the station and part of the city along with it.

No, that wasn't an option. He would need to be monitored very closely with very high and sophisticated security, and one such place existed for the worst of the worst of villains: Tartarus. This prison was reserved for criminals whose crimes merited less mercy than a death sentence, and was also used for criminals who were too powerful to be kept in regular holding facilities. But no! The idea of him throwing a child into Tartarus was nauseating, even if his powers made him dangerous. More importantly...

All Might saw the confusion in this boy's eyes, the way he was struggling to grasp his new surroundings, how he was looking for his friends the hero heard him mention. But most of all, it was the tears. The tears flowing down this child's cheeks and the despondency in his eyes. This child was experiencing immense inner pain and conflict. With such raw emotions, it only further strengthened his opposition towards sending him to Tartarus. But still, some strong security was needed to ensure he didn't cause damage to anyone or anything...

Then, an idea popped in his head! He would take the young child to an isolated area with no large objects or buildings for him to damage or use as weapons. There, he would try and iron out details about who this young man was and what happened to him. He'd also get a picture of the child and have some friends in the police force scan their database to find out who he was and what he did. If he found a match, he would locate the parents and try to explain to the best of his abilities what had happened after sending the boy to the hospital. That sounded like it would work great!

"Fear not, citizen!" All Might grabbed Shigeo by the waist and slung him over his shoulder. "I will take this young boy to question him! Do not concern yourself!"

"I see..." With the threat subdued, All Might began to walk into the city and prepared to jump high up, but before he could do this, Midoriya raised his hand toward the hero and shouted, "Wait!"

The young child couldn't help it: he understood that All Might had work to do and the teenager was a potential threat and that it was selfish of him to ask him this, but Izuku knew he might never get an opportunity to see All Might ever again in-person like this. He had to speak to him now!

"All Might, before you go, there's something I have to know!"

The quirkless boy momentarily faltered. So much was going through his mind. The memories of everyone telling him being a hero was impossible without a quirk were racing, and these memories were telling him to give it up now and not bother All Might with this question. But his dream was more powerful! Much more powerful than any ruminating fears or doubts. It was why he held his head high and asked him his burning question: "Is it possible for me to become a hero without a quirk?"

This question stopped All Might in his tracks. He could feel and hear the gravity of this question in the child's voice and understood that his answer to this question could very well make or break him.

"Without a quirk, you say?"

Speaking of breaking, All Might grimaced when he felt his body begin to collapse from the inside. The young child and almost all of the world were unaware of one of the very large secrets behind their symbol of peace: he could only maintain his muscular form for a short amount of time. All Might's time limit was already very close when he was shopping, and being slammed through two buildings definitely had an impact on him. Now, time was up.

The hero's body began to emit smoke, and he bend his back forward, desperately trying to maintain a grip on his form when he needed it the most. While All Might was being covered by smoke, Midoriya's mouth turned into a slight frown, and he looked sadly at the ground as he tried to explain himself.

"I'm a quirkless kid, and all my life, people have treated me like I'm useless because I don't have a quirk. But I've never let that stop me!" The young teenager managed to turn his frown upside down and reminisced on everything he loved about being a hero. "Ever since I was a kid, I thought that being a hero was the best job ever: saving lives and protecting the community with a proud smile on my face. Just like you."

Izuku Midoriya looked back up, and what he saw was the last thing in the world he was expecting: standing where All Might was just a second ago stood a thin, frail man with sunken cheeks trying to sling the child around both of his shoulders for more support. The young child's body felt stiff and rigid, and he staggered back in shock.

"Who are you?"

* * *

What the number one hero failed to realize was that when he jumped to save Midoriya, he failed to properly secure the bottle that contained the sludge villain, so when he jumped up at such high speeds, coupled with his baggy pants, the bottle went soaring through the air and into a darkened alley.

Within the bottle, the sludge villain's eyes fluttered open, and he was surprised to find himself in an alley all alone. "What the- How did I get here?" The recollection of his defeat at the hands of All Might came back to him, and his brain fumed.

"That son of a bitch. If it weren't for All Might, I would've gotten the money and be out of town by now."

"Man, those were some serious insults you dished out at Midoriya today." As luck would have it, Bakugo and two of his lackeys were walking down the alley.

"Weren't you and Midoriya buddies when you were younger?"

"Yea, you usually aren't that harsh with the quirkless loser."

Bakugo stared down at the ground and kicked the unassuming bottle of green sludge out to a lamppost, loosening the bottle cap. "He had it coming." The blonde-haired student couldn't believe that even after all these years of being quirkless, that worthless little Deku still couldn't understand his place in society. His anger flared up, and he created an explosion in his hand. "That little nobody needed to learn his place the hard way! The way he talks hero makes my blood boil!"

As Bakugo made his impassioned speech about Deku, his lackeys picked up on something repulsive and approaching them.

"Whoa, Bakugo, what the hell is that?"

"Huh?" The explosive teenager turned around, and was greeted with some sort of giant mass of sludge forming.

"Just my luck!" said the sludge villain, "Your quirk is gonna give me quite the explosive power I need!"

* * *

Izuku Midoriya was trying to come up with some sort of explanation for what he was seeing in front of him. "You can't be All Might! You're a fake, an imposter!"

This accusation irritated All Might, and he frowned at Midoriya. "I assure you, I am All M-" The hero's voice was cut off by his mouth gargling up blood which dripped off of his lips.

Midoriya screamed in disbelief. "GGGAAAAHHHHH!"

All Might gave an analogy to try and explain what Izuku was seeing. "You know how guys at the swimming pool flex their muscles and suck their guts? That's me when I'm doing hero work."

The quirkless boy's scream grew louder. "No, this isn't happening! You can't really be All Might! All Might is the ultimate hero, the symbol of peace who saves everyone and protects the world from evil!"

The number one hero sighed, knowing a proper explanation was in order for why he was like this. "What I'm about to show you is something no one in the public can know, so keep it quiet, alright?"

All Might raised his shirt, eliciting another sharp gasp from Izuku Midoriya: on the left side of his chest was a red, disgusting scar that covered almost his entire left pectoral. "This bad boy's what made me look like this. I got this in a fight five years ago. The attack collapsed my respiratory system and took my entire stomach. I managed to get it fixed as best as I could through a lot of surgeries, but the toll is too great. Thanks to this, I can only perform hero work about three hours a day."

"Unbelievable..." muttered Midoriya.

"But this is the price I paid for becoming a hero. Villains exist out there who are strong, crafty, and unpredictable. Every day, heroes are forced to fight against such villains, and even then, they could get injuries as bad as the one I have. Villains like those are simply too powerful to fight against a quirk." The hero sighed and prepared to get the hardest part out of the way, "So my answer to your question is no: without a quirk, being a hero simply isn't possible."

The final straw. This answer was the final straw in Midoriya's mind that eliminated the dream the quirkless boy had spent his whole life fixated around. He felt his core become cold and lifeless, and all the fire inside him had just been snuffed out. "I understand," said Midoriya.

"I wish things were different, but that's the hard reality," said All Might, "But that doesn't mean you should stop trying to help people. Plenty of other professions exist: police officers, firemen, investigators all save lives and are all sturdy career paths." The symbol of peace turned back around and resumed walking, but after about five steps, he stopped once again and gave him his final words of wisdom.

"Dreams are good things to have, but just... make sure they're attainable." And with that, the frail main walked down the street and made a right turn, disappearing from Midoriya's sight.

Once that was out of the way, the hero turned his attention back to this unconscious child. "First thing's first, I gotta clean that blood off your arm." All Might adjusted the esper's position and wiped the dried blood streams off of his arm, having to lick his fingers to get all of the blood off. "There. I'll probably have to sneak around back alleys to avoid drawing any attention to myself. After all, carrying an unconscious child with blood and a torn shirt on my back would probably make someone want to call the police."

Wait, the police! "Oh yea. I'll have to keep an eye on this guy before-" All Might reached for the bottle that had the sludge villain inside, but felt only an empty pocket. He widened his eyes and checked his other pocket. There was nothing! "But how did-"

All Might's sentence was cut off by the sound of an explosion. He glanced up, and saw a rising cloud of smoke not too far from where he was. Whatever that sound was, it couldn't be good. The hero grunted and clenched his fists with frustration. "Damn it! Looks like you're coming along with me, kid." The number one hero decided to run to the sound of danger and risk any possible questioning about the unconscious child. If anyone asked him about it, he could just lie and say the kid was his son and he was taking him home or something.

Like All Might, Midoriya heard the sound of the explosion and saw the giant cloud of smoke. His first instinct was to rush towards the area and see what was going on, but All Might's words stopped him in his tracks. "Without a quirk, being a hero simply isn't possible." His spirits once again sank, and he closed his eyes in somber acceptance.

* * *

Things intensified rather quickly once Bakugo accidentally released the sludge villain from his bottle. After trying to take over his body, the young student unleashed several explosions which attracted the attention of several heroes, such as Death Arms, Backdraft, Mt. Lady (who couldn't help due to her large size and the narrow alley), and Kamui Woods.

Although these heroes had managed to put out some of the fires and rescue Bakugo's two lackeys, none of them had the quirks necessary to take care of this sludge creature. The villain smiled with delight as Bakugo pointlessly struggled and he tried to take over his body. "With your quirk, I bet I'll be able to take All Might down with a single punch!"

While the other heroes could do nothing but wait for more heroes to show up with the right quirks to defeat this villain, All Might finally made it to the scene of panic and destruction. He gently laid Shigeo with his back against the wall. Thankfully, everyone was too focused with the scene going on right now to notice the unconscious child. He looked to see who was responsible for all of this chaos, and it was the last person he wanted to see: the sludge villain.

"Damn it! He must've been sent flying when I jumped to save Midoriya!" The hero grasped his scar and grimaced. "I should've been more careful! I should've secured him in my pocket! And I have the gall to go giving that kid a lesson on how to be a hero!" The grip on his scar tightened. "I'm a pathetic symbol of peace!"

* * *

With all of his hope extinguished within him, Midoriya was walking the streets with watery eyes, looking at all the notes he had taken about all the heroes, hoping one day it would come to use. "Well it didn't, because I'm an idiot." The student wiped his eyes, refusing to lose his composure and bawl like a baby. "Don't act like this is a surprise. Deep down, you always knew this was the truth. You just kept deluding yourself with false hopes and idiotic aspirations with no way to make those aspirations a reality. It's just like All Might said: make sure your dreams are attainable."

The quirkless boy picked up on the sound of explosions once again. He peered to his right, and noticed several people crowded around an alley. "Wait, don't tell me the fight from earlier is still going on."

Izuku folded his eyebrows up, and pursed his lips into a deeper frown. "Did I really just follow the sound of explosions subconsciously?" Acting out of curiosity, he crossed the street and tried to get a glance at what was going on through the crowd of people. But while he was doing this, a part of him was still deriding himself for even trying, for pointlessly getting involved in things he had no business being involved in.

The young student drew a sharp breath: the sludge monster had somehow escaped and was holding someone hostage, trying to take his body like he tried to take Midoriya's. "But how did he escape? All Might trapped him in that bottle! Was it-"

The only explanation Izuku could think of was it somehow flew away when All Might jumped to protect him. "The villain escaped because All Might had to save me." He slapped his hand to his mouth. "If I'd just run away more quickly, if I hadn't been there, then All Might wouldn't have had to rush in and protect me. I could've done something to prevent this! I know I could have!"

"Hey, that freak looks familiar." The people in the crowd were speaking amongst themselves. "I thought I saw All Might chasing him."

"Wait, if All Might was chasing him, then where did he go? No way All Might could lose to anyone!"

"Can't somebody call him?"

"What could've happened to All Might that's stopping him from helping the heroes here?"

All of these statements and inquiries caused the frail man clutching his scar to feel even more guilt and worthlessness.

Izuku Midoriya knew all of the answers to these questions, and all of them made his stomach churn. "All Might's in no condition to fight now, and none of the other heroes have the necessary powers to stop that sludge creature."

"I can't believe how useless I am right now!" Multiple thoughts were racing through Izuku and Toshinori's minds, "Here I am, watching heroes fighting to save an innocent civilian, while I'm here standing like a nobody!"

"I can't believe things have come to this!"

"I'm not a real hero!"

"A real hero will come and save that person!" As Izuku Midoriya had his hands clasped over, and he felt like his heart had reached up to his mouth, he continued to watch in horror as the citizen squirmed. The quirkless student watched as this hostage was fighting to break free, trying desperately to break out of this freak's control. He could see it in their eyes: the sense of fear, the sense of helplessness.

A spark reignited inside of Izuku Midoriya. The words of everyone in his life, even All Might, that had brought him down and convinced him of what he could not do were now meaningless. In the heat of the moment, with the fire in his heart, he no longer cared about whether he had a quirk or not. All he cared about was doing the right thing, causing his body to spring into action without hesitation.

Every single pro hero could not believe or understand what they were seeing at that moment: a frail kid rushing past them, into the battlefield as fast as he could.

"What're you doing! Get out of there!"

These words fell on deaf ears. Both the sludge villain and Bakugo immediately recognized the person that was sprinting towards them. "Deku? Have you lost it?"

Honestly, Izuku wouldn't disagree. Even he wasn't sure what he was doing at that moment. "What's going on? What made me leap into battle like a hero? I'm not a hero, so why can't I stop running?"

The sludge villain decided to finish what he started and end this pathetic child's life. "Now you're gonna get roasted, little punk!" The foe slashed his tentacle through the air, and for a second, Midoriya wasn't sure what he would do. What would a hero do?Then he remembered: all of the notes and observations that he had made about every hero prepared him for battle tactics, so he knew exactly how to react to this.

"Take this!" The quirkless boy used the opening and threw his backpack at the sludge villain. One of his textbooks hit the monster in the eye and caused him to loosen the grip he had on Bakugo, allowing the blonde student to breath.

"Kacchan!" Midoriya instinctively claws at the sludge of this villain, trying to make whatever progress he could and create a hole wide enough to grab Bakugo's hand and pull him out of there.

"Deku! Why the fuck are you rushing this green blob?"

"I can't say! I guess, my legs moved on their own!" With all of the frustration, the confusion, and the undying willpower to stand up and fight, the young boy's eyes began to water, and he looked at the boy who had done nothing but ridicule him all his life with a shaky smile. "I couldn't... I couldn't stand there and watch you die!"

The number one hero felt those words and the actions of this quirkless young boy, who had just been told he could never be a hero, go to his heart. Like Midoriya, the hero realized that he could not be a bystander and watch an innocent boy die. To hell with whatever time limit he had on his quirk!

"I'm not going to stand here, and be a bystander!"

The sludge villain's fury burst out of him. "I've had enough of you!"

Once the other heroes saw the sludge villain prepare to strike, they immediately rushed in to do whatever they could to save the child. But they were too late: Midoriya closed his eyes and held his arms up as he prepared for the blow that would kill him. But it never came.

"How far I've fallen."The quirkless child opened his eyes, and saw All Might in his muscular form, defending him from the tentacle with his trademark style and steam coming off of him.

"I lectured you before about the merits of being a hero, the need for them to sacrifice regardless of the costs! But thanks to you, I understand now that I wasn't living up to my own ideals! To be a hero, one must always put their lives on the line for the greater good!" The number one hero grabbed Bakugo's arm, and with blood spewing from his mouth as his body was pushed beyond its limits, prepared to unleash another one of his special moves.

"Detroit Smash!" With a strong downward punch, the symbol of peace punched the villain away with such force, such ferocity, that not only was all of the fire immediately extinguished and the citizens were forced to be protected by Mt. Lady, but the wind currents managed to create a literal tornado that spun high into the sky, parting the clouds.

All Might remained motionless as the steam continued to rise from his right arm while he panted heavily from overexerting himself. The heroes and the crowd were stunned silent, all of them in awe of the unbelievable power their idol just displayed. Then, the citizens began to feel a few droplets of water touching down. Those droplets of water soon multiplied, and a steady rain was falling on everyone in the area.

"It's raining. How could..."

"Could All Might have done this?"

"No way!"

"All Might, he..." Death Arms was baffled by the power the superior hero had just displayed, "He changed the weather with a single punch."

All Might moved out of his punching posture and stared at everyone in the crowd with his confident smile. Once everyone saw that their number one hero was still smiling and standing victorious, they all began to follow All Might's lead and started smiling themselves. In an instant, the smiles turned into cheering and applause. Once again, All Might had won the day with his fearless smile and unfathomable power. The number one hero responded to his audience and raised his hand in victory, sending the crowd into a frenzied uproar.

The hero looked down at the now unconscious Izuku Midoriya. While the crowd may have been cheering for him, they should have all been cheering for this quirkless boy. In reality, it was him who saved the day. It was he who began his journey to becoming a hero by rushing in to help the innocent without hesitation, regardless of the dangers. All Might knew at that instant that this boy would be the next successor. The next successor of One for All.

"Ha ha ha!" The hero hardily laughed and saluted the crowd. "I thank you for your support, but unfortunately I don't have time to celebrate! I have other pressing matters to attend to!" All Might turned to the spectating heroes. "I trust you will take care of things from this point on."

"Of course, All Might!"

"It's the least we can do!"

"Excellent!" The number one hero speeded through the alley and jumped above the crowd of people. Then, he quickly picked up the unconscious child with lightning-fast speed and jumped up onto the roof of a building, where he then jumped back down and sprinted down the road. The crowd waved their idol off as he went on to continue his work as the number one hero.

"Now the next order of business: finding out who you are." With the sludge villain defeated and All Might back in his muscular form, which he felt he could maintain for at least another thirty minutes or so, which should have been more than enough time to try and sort things out with this young child. At last, All Might would get some proper answers.

* * *

**And Chapter 2 is finished! We now see how Mob unintentionally unleashed his psychic powers in a burst of confusion and inner turmoil, and look where that got him! Now, you'll see next chapter how Shigeo is going to explain himself to All Might and get himself out of this major pickle! Until Chapter 3 of 100 Percent Hero!**


	3. Grand Revelations

**Hey guys, Chapter 3 of 100 Percent Hero is finally ready! With this chapter, you'l finally get to see what's going to happen to Shigeo and how All Might will try to reason with the powerful esper. Enjoy!**

* * *

At last, All Might would get some proper answers.

After running down the the road for about ten seconds, All Might finally made it to the beach. Once he did, he saw that the less densely populated area was to his left, where there was more vegetation and no visible buildings. The hero looked down at the boy's unconscious body. He was surprised by how knocked out this child was: even after running at high speeds and jumping, none of this managed to snap him out of unconsciousness. "You must be extremely drained."

The symbol of peace resumed sprinting down the beach for a few seconds, until civilization was more than a mile away. The water sparkled as the setting sun reflected on the cool blue ocean. All Might stopped his sprint and gently placed the boy down on the brightly colored sand. The number one hero bent down and began to shake the boy's chest, increasing the intensity of the shaking. However, after a few seconds of this shaking, the esper's eyes did not open, and the hero didn't want to shake his brain loose.

"Maybe splashing some water on his face will help." All Might dragged Shigeo to the edge of the water, cupped his hands together and splashed the esper's face with the salty water. The teenager's eyes quickly fluttered open, and the hero took a sigh of relief.

"There we go!" All Might backed away and allowed for the young esper to come back to his senses, coughing up the salty water. Well, it was time to question this teenager. The hero knew that he would have to be patient, calm, and willing to listen to whatever this young child had to say. That way, he could defuse the tension and prevent another complicated situation like before form building. When Shigeo saw All Might looking over him, he recoiled and moved his head back.

"Please do not be alarmed!" All Might held his hands out and tried to calm the child down. "I brought you out here to talk with you and try to get some things sorted out! I have no intention of harming you! So please, do not attack like you did before!"

Shigeo Kageyama looked up at the large and muscular man and remembered talking with this man and a teenager before. Then, he recalled something even more shameful: he had allowed his powers to explode, and he had sent both of them flying. Once this memory resurfaced, the grief and guilt over what he did resurfaced along with it, and his eyes shone with regret. "I'm... I'm sorry," said Shigeo, "I didn't mean to harm you or anyone else. I was just..." Once again, the young student felt tears forming in his eyes, and All Might couldn't help but feel pity and sorrow for this child.

"Now now," The number one hero bent down on his knees and grabbed both of the esper's shoulders.

"Do not worry: no one was injured. I understand that you didn't to it on purpose. I won't hold that against you. Now let's take a step back." Shigeo Kageyama could see in this man's eyes that he truly held no malice or disrespect towards him, and only wanted to try and understand what was going on with Shigeo. So he wiped away the tears forming in his eyes and put on a more serious face. "Where did you come from? You said something about Seasoning City. Where is that?"

"Japan."

"Japan?" And with that, All Might's brain began entering a meltdown. The city he came from was in Japan? But if that were true, then this student was indeed correct with his previous assertion: there should have been major news coverage if the events Mob was describing had actually happened. Even if Seasoning City did exist in Japan and All Might didn't know about it, he still should've been informed about it and gone to deal with the situation as soon as possible. But to confirm this, some more questions were in order.

The next thing he needed to find out was whether or not this child was familiar with the general knowledge of this planet to see if Seasoning City was simply in a secluded area of Japan, cut off from rest of the world.

"Are you familiar with the concept of quirks?"

"No."

"But then, what do you call those powers you displayed earlier?"

"Those are just my psychic powers." That answer didn't really help the hero sort through any of this.

"Alright, alright..." Clearly, All Might needed to be more specific in his questioning. "In Seasoning City, do many people there possess any powers similar to yours?"

"Not really. In Seasoning City, there are barely any people I've met who have psychic powers."

Odd. About 80% of the population possessed a quirk. Even if this Seasoning City was a secluded city in Japan, the idea that there would be so few people with quirks didn't make much sense. "And of the people who do possess these psychic powers, are each of their abilities... unique?"

"Umm..." Shigeo tapped his chin while he tried to understand what he was asking, but he gave All Might a blank stare. "I don't really get it."

The symbol of peace heaved and rested his chin in his hand. He didn't know how to properly explain this. From what he was hearing so far, the place where he came from seemed to possess some similarities to their world, but things still didn't fit. "I mean that with all of these people who you met who have psychic powers, how much do their abilities differ? Do they all have the same range of abilities that you possess, or do they have powers that you don't have? Please try to be as detailed as possible. This information is critical in finding out where you came from and whether or not I can get you back to your friends and family."

"Right." Shigeo tried to remember everything he ever learned about psychic powers and all of the people and evil spirits who possessed psychic powers. "A lot of the espers I've met have different abilities, although they stem from the psychic energy that all espers possess. Some espers can use their psychic powers to bulk up their bodies, others can channel their psychic energy to form whips, and a few can imbue their energy into plants to command them and make them grow rapidly. I've even met an esper who was able to control evil spirits-"

"Hold on," All Might's first interest was that term he just used. "What do you mean by evil spirit? What is that?"

"Where I come from, there are supernatural ghosts that are called evil spirits. Usually, they're dead humans who are haunting a certain place or person. I'm able to exorcise these evil spirits with my psychic powers."

"I understand. Go back to what you were saying about the abilities of these espers."

"Oh. Anyway, there are a lot of abilities that espers have. I've learned that it's possible for me and other espers to learn new psychic abilities."

"Huh?" Did he hear this child correctly? It was possible for these "espers" of Seasoning City to learn new abilities?

Shigeo saw the look of shock and doubt on this man's face. "It's true. One ability I picked up was the one I mentioned earlier, being able to control and manipulate plants. I'll show you."

Shigeo walked up to the treeline that was about ten meters away. He looked around and decided to do something small, knowing he couldn't try anything crazy with his psychic powers drained. All Might trailed behind him and watched patiently as the child prepared to demonstrate this power he mentioned. Shigeo decided to use a small shrub as his example: he lifted his hand, and the shrub was then shrouded in a light blue aura. All Might let out a faint gasp when he saw the shrub grow a few inches in height. Coupled with his telekinesis, that made two abilities. Except for one other person, he had never seen any quirk user who possessed more than one ability. All Might supposed it was possible, but the possibility was still very slim.

"I'm usually able to do more, but my powers are drained so, so..."Shigeo's sentence began to cut off, and a sense of tiredness that had been following him ever since he first woke up in this new place grew stronger. The hero noticed the child's knee bend, and he would've fallen flat on his face if it wan't for All Might catching him. The hero looked at the child with more concern.

"Are you all right? What's wrong? Are your previous injuries catching up to you? Do you need to be sent to the hospital?"

"No no, it's not that..." muttered Shigeo, trying to make sure that his eyes didn't shut, "I don't have any bruised muscles or broken bones or anything, so a trip to the hospital isn't necessary. It's just that whenever I use my powers too much, I feel really sleepy."

"If that's the case, then take a minute to right yourself." Although he said this, he didn't want this child to waste too much time: after all, he did have a time limit.

"I'll be fine. Just let me splash some water on my face." Shigeo grabbed both of his knees, and pushed himself back up to walk to the edge of the water. Once he reached the ocean, he cupped the water in his hands and splashed it on his face multiple times until he felt it had woken him up enough. "That did it."

Having gotten a good enough explanation of the powers people possessed in his city, All Might decided to move onto the next big question that was on his mind. "How did you get such grievous injuries?"

"Before I woke up and found you and that other kid, I was fighting the boss of this organization called Claw." Already expecting a follow-up question from the hero, Shigeo continued before he could be interrupted. "They're a group of dangerous espers who wanted to take over the world. I fought them once before and thought they would be gone, but it turned out I was wrong."

All Might once again rested his chin on his hand, going over what this meant. He had never heard of any sort of villain organization called Claw. Now, it was possible that this organization was recently formed, so no intelligence agency or hero had any information on them, although it still perplexed him that an organization that had the ability to threaten an entire city wasn't known to the public.

"And did you fight the boss and this organization by yourself?"

"Well, I had a lot of friends and allies who joined the fight against them, though they mostly focused on dealing with the main army and some of their top espers. After taking care of those top espers, I encountered the boss, who I did fight alone."

"How powerful was he?"

"He was easily the most powerful esper I've ever encountered. It turned out he had the ability to give and take psychic powers from others."

All Might felt his heart stop beating. Every blood vessel in his body constricted, and a sense of dread began to hit him at his core. Shigeo's eyes widened slightly when he saw how All Might's gaped open, and his eyes were now flashing with shock and despair. The hero sounded like he was trying to say something, but his words were being caught in his throat.

"Are you all right?" asked Shigeo, "What's wrong?"

It took a few seconds for All Might to speak, and when he did speak, his voice was a hushed whisper. "And did you..." The hero looked like he was struggling greatly to get these next words out, "happen to catch his name?" The hero could not believe it. He had eliminated him in their fight five years ago, the symbol of evil: All for One. He'd ended his reign of tyranny once and for all that day! It couldn't have been him! But who else could have had the ability to give and take powers? If everything this child was saying was really true, if Seasoning City really did exist in Japan and All Might had truly been so ignorant, so foolish to not hear about what was happening in this city, if All for One had truly returned, then All Might really was unworthy of his title as the Symbol of Peace. To imagine a mere child was forced to fight one of the most powerful quirk users in all of existence while he stood idly by, it was perhaps the largest disgrace the hero could think of. So he had to know! He had to know the name of this boss! He had to know whether All for One had returned!

"He said his name was Toichiro Suzuki."

Once this name came out of Shigeo's lips, some of the building pressure and fear inside of All Might was relieved, and the young esper could see the dread in the hero's eyes begin to fade. "His son also told me he'd been stockpiling 20 years worth of psychic energy." This statement appeared to almost completely remove the fear in All Might's eyes, and the hero took a sigh of internal relief. All for One never had any children, and furthermore, he was alive for more than one hundred years, while this other villain was only stockpiling power for twenty years. So whoever this Toichiro Suzuki was, it was now certain to All Might that it wasn't All for One. But despite this, the number one hero was still amazed at the idea that another villain existed that had similar abilities to All for One. It took everything All Might had to defeat the symbol of evil after years of training and preparation, and even then, he'd been grievously injured.

"And you fought this Toichiro Suzuki by yourself?"

"Yea."

"Unbelievable..." All Might put his hand over his eye, and the hero felt himself lose the energy in his legs, plopping down on his butt and kicking up the sand a few inches high. This newest information was the most impactful for the number one hero. What kind of formidable power did this child have? "And how difficult was the battle for you? Were you victorious? What happened to Suzuki?"

Shigeo Kageyama looked down at the sand, the memory of the battle and the intensity still fresh in his mind. "I'd say it was the hardest battle I've ever fought: our fight nearly tore the city apart. I was just barely able to hold my own for most of the fight: to try and beat him, I had to..." The young esper closed his eyes, ashamed by what he was about to say but knowing it was what he had to do in that moment, "I had to twist his body beyond repair." The hero grimaced: he remembered smashing All for One's head to end his life, and while it was necessary, he remembered looking at the blood on his hands with disgust. Now imagining a CHILD having to perform something much worse to finish his enemy off, that must have been truly traumatizing.

"I'm very sorry to hear you were forced to do this." Shigeo was taken aback by this comment and the frown accompanied it. "You must have been backed into a very tight corner if you really thought distorting your enemy's body was the only option left."

"Ahh..." The young esper's eyes sparkled with a newfound sense of admiration for this hero. He was able to understand how he was feeling and what kind of trauma he underwent during this battle and gave his sympathy. Shigeo couldn't help but form a smile, pleasantly surprised to know this man was able to sympathize with him. "Thank you for saying that."

"So I assume that was the end of the battle?"

"Actually, no." The hero's eyes opened up and he leaned slightly forward to hear the explanation for this. "He managed to unleash all of his energy to correct his body. I was able to fight with him for a moment, but he quickly overpowered me. However, it turned out that he released too much of his energy at once to try and stop me, and he couldn't control it anymore. It was going to keep growing and growing until it exploded and destroyed the entire city."

"So what did you do?"

"I tried to stop the explosion, so what I did was absorb all of the-"

"Wait!" All Might interrupted the story and pointed his finger at Shigeo with one of his many shocked expressions. "You mean you have the ability to absorb these psychic powers as well?"

The esper gave All Might an awkward look, confused by why he was making such a big deal of this. "Yea."

"And you managed to absorb such a large amount of psychic power?"

"Barely. It felt like my entire body was about to explode. I didn't even know if I'd survive with that much power in my body, but I still managed to take it. After that, I blacked out. That's when you and that other kid found me."

"I see..." This was a lot of information for the number one hero to take in and process. So many surprises, so many shocking facts. Even now, All Might wasn't sure he could fully believe everything that this child had told him. To imagine a child existed who was strong enough to singlehandedly fend off against a villain as formidable as All for One and who had so many abilities was too much for him to believe. If he was as powerful as he claimed to be, he could very well be a match for All Might himself. Who in God's name was this child?

"So did my explanations help you?" said Shigeo, "Do you think you'll be able to help me find my friends and family based on everything I told you?"

For a second, All Might and Shigeo stared at each other. The hero's gaze was stoic and lifeless, his regular smile now a neutral line, while the esper waited for him to give an answer, the answer he was desperately hoping for. After what seemed like an eternity for Shigeo, the hero closed his eyes and sighed. "Based on everything I've heard thus far, I believe it is possible that you simply became misplaced when you absorbed all of that energy, and it accidentally teleported you. However..." All Might opened his eyes, and the look in his eyes caused Shigeo to tense every fiber in his body.

"This possibility is slim," said All Might, now prepared to take his turn in explaining to Shigeo what was happening and where he was. "I say this because in this society, people possess something called quirks. Quirks are supernatural abilities a person has, and there are many quirks out there that give people vastly different powers, so many that they have to be divided in categories. About 80% of the population has a quirk, and if there are so few people in your city that have powers, that would be a very bizarre place. Also, in this society, there are people who use quirks to defend the population that are known as heroes." All Might pointed his thumb at himself. "As the young boy mentioned before, I am a hero. The number one hero in the world, in fact. Forgive me for my lack of modesty, but to imagine that you do not know who I am is also not a good sign."

The esper's fear and insecurity rose, and water was yet again prepared to form into his eyes. The number one hero tried to dissuade the child out of making any conclusions yet. "That isn't to say it's impossible! Do not give up hope! We can still find a way to locate your city!"

Shigeo Kageyama's face froze at how serious All Might was looking at him. From the look in his eyes, he could see that he was determined to help him however he could. Furthermore, he also knew crying and letting his emotions go wild once again wasn't going to get him anywhere and would only cause more destruction. So the young psychic took a deep breath and forced himself to suck his tears back in. "Alright, let's go find my family."

"Excellent. However, until we do, I believe it's best that you stay with me." The young esper let out a small yelp.

"Stay with you?"

"Yes. I believe that for now, while you are in this unknown city with no one to assist you, my apartment will be sufficient enough to accommodate you." More importantly, he wanted to be there to guard this child in case he accidentally lost control of his powers again, but he wouldn't be so rude as to say this out loud. And if this living arrangement was to actually take place, then...

"Now listen here... What is your name?"

"Shigeo Kageyama."

"Kageyama. What I'm about to show you is something only a few people in the world are aware of." Although it was a risky move to reveal his secret so soon, he knew that if Shigeo was going to be living with him, he couldn't hide his true form from the teenager forever. Besides, All Might could tell that this wasn't a child motivated by greed or money. "If it were revealed, it would deal a great blow to the public. Do you understand? I'm counting on you not to reveal this secret."

"Oh, sure." Shigeo awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. What kind of secret did this man have that was so dramatic? The number one hero took a deep breath in, and relaxed all the muscles in the body. Instantaneously, steam rose all around his body, and the hulking man was replaced by a fragile, skinny skeleton who spewed blood from his mouth. The esper took a frightened step back and gasped.

"Wha-what happened to you?"

The hero wiped the blood from his mouth and sighed. "The form you saw before is what everyone believes I look like 24/7. In reality, this is what I look like for most of the day." All Might lifted up his shirt, and like Izuku, Mob was horrified by the terrible scar he saw on the left side of his chest. "I was gruesomely injured five years ago. That injury nearly destroyed my body and now prevents me from using my full power. People depend on me to be the strong, smiling symbol of peace that protects everyone, and if the public found out about this, then their faith in me would be diminished."

"I..." Shigeo Kageyama was baffled by the size of this scar. More importantly, to imagine he was still doing his job as a hero even with that scar was astounding. "I promise I won't tell anyone."

"Good. Now..." All Might grunted in pain, and forced himself to enter back into his muscular form. He spewed a small trace of blood, and motioned his hand out to Shigeo. "Before we look into finding your family, there's someone I need to find myself. Remember that child you met before?" The esper silently nodded. "I must speak with him now. There's something important I need to tell him."

"Alright." Even though he wanted to find his family, he also didn't want to be pushy and demand anything. Besides, he nearly got that teenager killed: he owed him an apology. "Are you sure you're going to be ok?"

"I'm fine. Do not worry, Kageyama. Now hang on." All Might bent his knees, and began a full-on sprint back to the city as Shigeo held on as tightly as he could. Soon, the three would have a proper reunion.

* * *

Things settled down after All Might defeated the sludge villain. The heroes worked alongside the police to gather up all of the sludge villain's body parts and place them in separate bags so he couldn't reform and regain his strength. The citizens were all talking about how they saw All Might up-close. The news crew asked several questions to the heroes who had first arrived on the scene, although the part they played in this villain's defeat was minimal, so there wasn't much they could brag about.

Meanwhile, some of the other heroes scorned Izuku for going into the heat of the battle so recklessly. The quirkless child couldn't do anything except apologize and bend his head down in shame. Opposite of this was the praise Katsuki Bakugo was receiving for his amazing quirk and ability to stay conscious despite being taken hostage by the sludge villain for several minutes. He should've been taking in all these compliments with his usual confident smirk, but all this praise was falling on deaf ears. No, the explosive student's mind was somewhere else, and his mouth was pursed into a tight line as he gazed at the ground in silence.

With everything settled and the villain taken into custody, Izuku Midoriya was now walking back home with a somber expression on his face. In the end, he didn't do anything except nearly get himself killed and forced All Might to step in even when he was already past his limits. "When I get home, I should post a message on his website. Hopefully, he'll see it and-"

"Hey Deku!" Midoriya was surprised to hear the sound of Kacchan's voice and rapid approaching him. The blonde student panted heavily before he spoke what he wanted to say, because he had quite a lot on his mind. Bakugo felt that what had just happened to him was one of the greatest insults of his life. To imagine that a quirkless nobody decided to step in and help him, as if he needed it at all, as if his explosive power wouldn't be enough to take care of that damn sludge bastard, was the ultimate disgrace. "Don't think that I'm all grateful for what you did back there! I was perfectly fine without your help! So don't think that what you did amounted to anything! Because it didn't! A quirkless loser like you will never amount to anything, you got that!"

Bakugo's eyes were venomous and teeming with rage as he glared at his quirkless classmate. But now that he had gotten his point across, he decided that he'd had enough and marched off in a loud huff.

Watching Bakugo vent his anger like that, the quirkless student couldn't help but be confused by what had just happened. He had no understanding of the deep pride and insecurity that defined Katsuki Bakugo. "He's still right," muttered Midoriya, "I didn't do anything in the grand scheme of things, but..." Despite knowing that, he smiled because he didn't stand and watch like a helpless loser, "At least I did something. But now that that's over, I need to get my head straight and get back to the reality of being a quirkless nobody..."

"I AM HERE!" From the left alleyway, All Might rushed out with his right arm raised back and his left hand bent in front of him. Izuku squealed in surprise: what was All Might doing here? Not only that, but that kid from earlier had his arms wrapped around his neck.

"All Might and that teenager! What are you two doing here?"

"We were looking for you." Shigeo let go of his grip around All Might's neck and lightly jumped back on the ground. The esper rushed up to Izuku, and the quirkless teenager was taken aback by how ashamed and sad the esper's face was. "I know that you're probably really confused by what I did, but I want you to know that I'm so, so sorry. Losing control like that was never my intention." Shigeo ran his hand through his hair and gazed at the ground, too filled with shame to look at Izuku in the eyes.

"H-hey," Midoriya didn't have it in him to criticize or attack him. It just wasn't in his nature, and he could see how much inner conflict this teenager was going through. "You don't have to worry about anything. I wasn't harmed."

"Yes, that's what I told young Kageyama before." All Might walked up to the esper's side and drew Midoriya's attention to him. "Now then, regarding-" The hero's body collapsed, and he spat out a somewhat copious amount of blood, causing both students to gasp with fear and shock. However, both the students were also frightened by the fact that he had just deflated in front of the other.

"Wai-"

All Might held both his hands up to the students to stop their concerns. "I've already revealed my true form to both of you individually, so don't worry." Shigeo and Izuku calmed themselves down. "Moving on, the reason I was looking for you was so I could thank you for stepping in when you did, as well as to talk about your previous question. If you hadn't intervened when you did, if you hadn't told me about your life as a quirkless child, I would have been nothing but a useless spectator watching as the other heroes tried to stop that villain."

While All Might and Shigeo had been sprinting to Izuku's location, the hero told Shigeo about what had happened, although he left out the part about the villain being the sludge creature he'd accidentally released when he unleashed his psychic energy blast. The young esper was absolutely amazed by what he heard. To imagine that a kid with no powers would decide to go into a battle like that, it was something that Shigeo had never encountered before. For the esper, running into a battle to save people was something he'd always found extremely easy. With his psychic powers, he could usually handle evil spirits and other espers without major trouble. But to imagine running into those fights without his powers to back him? He'd never pondered the implications of this before.

"No no, I really didn't do anything! All I did was get in the way, and-"

"Let me finish." The number one hero wanted to get his point across, for what he wanted to say to this young child was very important. "You told me about how you had no powers, so when I saw you, a meek, quirkless child rush into action to save a life, it inspired me to join in and take action." Izuku and Shigeo slightly widened their eyes, listening with intent and curiosity.

"When every story of a hero is born, almost all of them have the same beginning: the hero's body move before they had a chance to think, acting on instinct to save a life." The quirkless child's eyes sparkled with light, and he looked to the ground to hide his face being filled with an onslaught of new emotions. In the wake of everything that All Might was telling him, the words of Izuku's mother were coming back to him.

_"I'm sorry, Izuku! I wish things were different!"_

The young student tightly gripped his chest, bending further down as his emotions came pouring out of him. Shigeo gasped when he saw the tears forming in this teenager's eyes. Did this really mean that much to him?

All Might continued. "Today, I saw your story begin." The tears rolled down his cheeks, flowing down his nose and dripping onto the pavement. As the shock and gratitude of All Might's words took their effect, he dropped to his knees. That day, his mother couldn't say the words he needed to hear. His life story was being told his dream was a fantasy. Now, at long last, the number one hero of the world, the person he held the highest admiration and deepest respect for, was finally giving him the hope for his dream he had yearned for all his life.

"Young man, you too can become a hero!"

With that, Izuku Midoriya could no longer contain himself, and began to bawl like a little baby, the tears beginning to form a puddle on the ground. Shigeo reached his hand to lightly clasp his throat, and his eyes sparkled with newfound fascination. So much raw emotion coming from him. It was something he'd never encountered in anyone besides himself.

All Might stood silently as the quirkless child released all of his emotions. He could only imagine how much of an impact his words would have on a quirkless young boy who always wanted to be a hero since childhood. It was quite literally a dream come true. Well, All Might was about to make that dream even more amazing than he ever thought possible.

"I hereby deem you worthy to inherit my quirk!"

When these words reached Midoriya's ears, he felt his entire brain was about to explode. "What?"

The quirkless student looked up at All Might with watery eyes and water marks on his face while drool dribbled down his chin. "You said inherit? What do you mean inherit?"

In the face of all this emotion, All Might couldn't help but find humor in Midoriya's priceless expression, and he let out a hefty roar. "The look on your face! My god, you don't have to worry! But listen up!" The number one hero raised his finger in the air, and pointed it down at Midoriya. "This is your choice: would you like to accept this quirk or not?"

Both Shigeo and Izuku were unable to comprehend exactly what All Might was talking about. "Inherit a quirk?" asked the esper, "How does that even work?"

"Well Kageyama," Since the teenager already knew about his true form, it really didn't do any harm to tell him about the true nature of his quirk. "The true nature of my abilities is slightly similar to yours. Many journalists and news outlets have always tried to guess my quirk is super strength or invulnerability, and whenever I'm asked the question in interviews, I crack a joke and dodge the question." All Might turned his gaze back to Midoriya. "I do this because the people need to believe their symbol of peace was naturally born with this quirk. However, this quirk is nothing natural at all! The truth is," the number one hero raised his hands into the air and looked to the sky, "My power was given to me by someone else! And now, I can give this power to you!"

"Huh." Shigeo was not very impressed or surprised by this statement, although Midoriya, on the other hand, was absolutely amazed by this new information. Not only by All Might talking about his quirk, but by this teenager's powers as well.

"Wait, wait hold on a second. This is too much for me to take in! It's true that no one exactly knows what your quirk is. In fact, it's been one of the most heavily debated topics on the internet. Everybody's made their guesses, but nobody's been able to pinpoint exactly what it is. But, to imagine that it's possible to transfer a quirk, that's... insane." Midoriya's attention diverted to Shigeo, "And what did you mean your quirk was like All Might's quirk? What exactly is your quirk anyway? How does your power connect to All Might's quirk?" The quirkless teenager continued to mumble several questions to himself, failing to come to grips with everything that was being explained to him.

All Might and Shigeo watched in confusion while Midoriya continued to murmur all these questions.

"You're putting too much thought into this. Now stop nerding out!"

Midoriya's sentence was cut off as All Might shot his arms out to his sides. "You'll just have to adjust your mindset and accept this truth as reality!" All Might motioned his hand to Shigeo. "Regarding his abilities, that requires a longer story, a more in-depth explanation and a physical demonstration for another day. But the bottom line is that my quirk can be passed on to you.

"It's name," All Might extended his palm out, "Is One for All."

"One... For... All..."

The number one hero continued, "One person receives this power, improving upon it and increasing its strength, then passes it onto another person, repeating the cycle and increasing its power as it continues to be passed on from hero to hero. It is this power that makes me what I am, allows me to be the man who can save those who need to be saved."

Midoriya was beginning to get a general grasp of the quirk, even if he was still coming terms to its possibility, but one question still perplexed him. "But... what makes you think I'd be worthy of such an amazing quirk? I mean, what if I'm not able to use this power to its fullest potential?"

"I was on a long and fruitless hunt to find a successor worthy enough to inherit One for All. But today, I saw you jump into action while the rest of us watched as helpless citizens. You may be just a quirkless fanboy, but you have the heart a true hero!"

"Yea!" Midoriya was surprised when he heard Shigeo jump into the conversation with a small smile on his face and passionate eyes. "What you did was really cool!"

The quirkless student was once again touched by the lofty words All Might was using to describe him, and although Shigeo's words didn't have nearly the same impact, they were nevertheless enough to cause Izuku's heart to stir slightly. Midoriya's eyes watered yet again, and truth be told, All Might had seen enough watery eyes today.

"Seriously!" The number one hero slapped his hand to his head repeatedly, "You've gotta stop being such a crybaby if you want my quirk, alright?"

The quirkless student tightened his fingers and tried to come to grips with everything he had just been told. All Might had been so open with him, trusting him with the nature of his quirk and even offering him the chance to inherit his quirk. What greater opportunity would ever approach him? It was everything he ever dreamed of right in front of him! So he quickly wiped away his tears with his sleeve and lifted himself off the ground to stand with confidence. "I'll do it! I'll accept this quirk!"

The symbol of peace took his hand off of his face and smiled. "That's what I expected to hear! Very good!" All Might turned his body to the left and began a walking pace. "Meet me at the Dagoba Municipal Beach Park in two days! I'll explain more about my quirk once we meet again. For now, I need to take care of some business with young Kageyama here."

"Oh..." Izuku was still curious as to what kind of power this teenager, and wanted to say something to him before he left. "Well, nice to meet you, Kageyama."

"Yea," replied the esper. Then, to Izuku's surprise, Shigeo made the unlikely action of extending his hand. "Congratulations, uhhh..." Shigeo's voice petered out, and he awkwardly stood there with his hand extended since he didn't know the quirkless boy's name.

Izuku lightly chuckled with a small smile and returned the handshake. "My name's Izuku. Izuku Midoriya."

"Midoriya." The quirkless child eliminated the awkwardness Shigeo was feeling, and the sweat beads growing on the esper's face quickly disappeared.

"Well, see you later."

The two exchanged small smiles, and with that, Shigeo released his hand and began to walk down the road alongside All Might. Izuku stared at the pair for a moment, watching as they walked together to do whatever it was they needed to do.

"What a day." The quirkless teenager rotated his body and began to walk back home, now leaving Shigeo and All Might to their affairs.

As the esper and the hero began to walk down the road, Shigeo's eyes were elevated slightly downward, and the teenager crossed his arms. All Might took note of Shigeo's physicality, and realized that he must've been in deep thought about something. But what? Was he confused about All Might's quirk? Was he still feeling shocked about the possible loss of his family? Was it something that was said during the conversation with Midoriya? All Might just couldn't tell.

"Kageyama? What's on your mind?"

The esper sighed and decided to unload exactly what was on his mind at the moment, and it wasn't what All Might thought it would be. "I'm just thinking about how much being a hero meant to Midoriya."

"Hmm?" Truth be told, All Might thought that question didn't make any sense. "What do you mean by that?"

"I don't know..." Shigeo lifted his head up to the sky and slapped his palm to the back of his neck, thinking of the words to articulate what exactly he was trying to express. "I just can't really understand why having powers or being a hero would be so meaningful to someone. I mean, what would becoming a hero do for someone? What would gaining your quirk do for Midoriya?"

Just when All Might thought he'd gotten to get a general grasp of who Shigeo Kageyama was, this statement completely twisted his initial perception of him. For any normal person, they would probably spend every night wishing they had the power Shigeo possessed. If the esper was as powerful as he claimed to be, then he should've been one of the most popular people in his city.

All Might stopped in his tracks, causing Shigeo to look back at All Might with confusion. "That... The answer to that question should be obvious for you!" The hero realized the hint of rudeness in that statement, and dialed his shock down. "Forgive me, but I just can't imagine that someone who has the powers you have would ever ask that! Aren't you popular at your school?"

"No, not at all."

"But-But aren't people aware of the power you possess? Haven't you shown them what you can do with your psychic powers?"

The young esper shook his head, ready to tell All Might the same thing he told everyone else whenever they suggested that having psychic powers made him better or that he should use them to impress others. "No. Either way, I've learned having psychic powers doesn't make you popular."

"Huh?"

"More than that, my powers don't make me better than anyone else. If I live a life using only my psychic powers, then I'll completely neglect any other potential I have inside of me." The young esper flexed his hands out and slapped his palms to his chest. "If you took away my psychic powers, there'd be nothing left. It's why I'm trying to improve myself in other ways, because I'm still lacking in so many other areas. Besides, powers aren't needed to survive in the first place."

All Might was stunned speechless. Shigeo saw the expression of disbelief on All Might's face and got a general prediction of what the hero would do next. After seeing the way so many other espers initially react to these beliefs, he knew that someone as powerful and popular as All Might who was revered for his powers would likely view his ideology as ridiculous or stupid. Shigeo's assumptions were proven correct when the first thing All Might did was laugh.

The symbol of peace first began to lightly chuckle, but this chuckle grew into a hefty roar. All Might clutched his chest tightly, and he curved his body forward while he continued to laugh to his heart's content.

"I get why a big hero like you would find it stupid, but it's the truth."

"No, no!" The number one hero raised his hand up to Shigeo while he tried to control his laughter. "I'm not laughing because what you said sound stupid. I'm laughing because of how ironic your situation is."

It was Shigeo's turn to be shocked. "How is my situation ironic?"

All Might stood back up and wiped away tears of laughter forming in his eyes. "To me, imagining someone born with the phenomenal power you have but choosing not to use it or rely on it is the most unbelievable thing I've ever heard." The frail man's laughter faded, although his smile did not. "In our society, so many people put a person's worth in their quirks. People with powerful quirks become enraptured by the power they possess and think that they're better than everyone else. I've met so many powerful heroes who've been fueled by this belief and completely ignore their faults, so consumed by their own greatness." All Might walked back up to Shigeo and gazed into his eyes with such intensity and passion that the esper could feel the weight of his mood changing. "When I met you today and heard your story, I believed that you were one of these people. Someone gifted with your powers and with very few other people with powers in your city, I thought you would be someone convinced of their own superiority. It turns out I couldn't have been more wrong."

All Might placed his hands on Shigeo's shoulders once again, and the young esper's eyes glowed with amazement like they did before on the beach. During the time All Might had been with him, the hero had come to see something rare inside of Shigeo Kageyama. Unlike many other children with quirks of his age, he wasn't motivated by power or a desire for greatness. He didn't allow himself to be defined by his powers. Instead, he only desired to live a life where he was valued for something other than his powers. "We've only interacted for a short period of time, but when I look into your eyes, I see a humble, pure soul who doesn't allow the ego of his powers to define him. I see someone who was willing to protect his city not because he wanted the pride and glory of defeating a large organization, but because he wanted to defend the city and its people. You may view yourself as just a loser, but you couldn't be more wrong. In my eyes, you have the heart of a true hero, just like Midoriya."

"Ahhh..." Shigeo Kageyama had never heard anyone talk to him with the respect and admiration All Might was showing him right now. Not even his master had ever spoken of him with such amazement. To be valued and appreciated for his character, it felt pretty amazing for Shigeo. For the third time that day, the young esper's eyes began to well up.

"Ah, you and him both," All Might remarked, shaking his head and crossing his arms. It became apparent to the hero that this child didn't have much self-confidence, even with his psychic abilities. What an interesting and conflicting character Shigeo Kageyama was.

The esper wiped away the tears, although his eyes were still shining with appreciation. "Thank you, All Might."

"Don't sweat it, kid." The number one hero patted the young esper on the back, and the two super-powered humans resumed their walk back to All Might's apartment.

* * *

**Well, looks like All Might has finally gotten the explanation he needed to understand who Shigeo was and what happened to him! Until Chapter 4!**


	4. Alone

**Chapter 4 is up! A week after Chapter 3, and you will get to see exactly how All Might and Shigeo will find out about the esper's home and what will happen as a result! So here you go!**

* * *

After walking for about thirty minutes down the relatively barren street, All Might and Shigeo's journey through the city had finally reached its end.

"Here we are."

The hero stopped in front of a brick building with multiple balconies guarded by black-painted fences. When they entered the apartment, Shigeo was surprised by the brightly lit lobby area. There were multiple plants with unique colors placed on the lounge desk and near the multiple cushioned chairs and couches spread across the area. There were two large televisions hooked up to the walls and surrounded by the furniture. At the front desk, the receptionist was lazily typing on his phone, completely ignoring the frail man and the child entering the lobby.

They walked in silence to the elevator and continued to say nothing as they went up to the eighth floor. All Might and Shigeo continued walking for a few more seconds, until they made it to All Might's room, 807. The number one hero unlocked the door, and Shigeo took in the very nicely laid out apartment space before him. The floor was dark oak, contrasted by the white sofa and chairs surrounding a large television. The esper noticed the marble countertop for the kitchen area and the light brown cabinets hung up on the kitchen wall.

"Wow," muttered Shigeo, "This is really nice."

"Thank you." All Might pointed to the door on the left. "Right there's the guest bedroom. In there's an extra bathroom and even a small balcony to enjoy the warm breeze. If you're hungry, I've got some snacks in the cabinets here, and you can let me know if there's anything specific you might want for dinner."

"I'll be fine with whatever you have."

"Good. Now then..." Both superpowered humans knew that there were still priorities, so All Might went to the sofa, where his laptop was being charged. Shigeo sat next to him, and the hero opened the laptop. But before he typed in his password, his fingertips froze on the keys.

"All Might?"

"Before we do this," All Might gazed at Shigeo Kageyama with a very solemn and serious expression, and the esper gulped. "I want you to promise me that whatever happens, you won't allow your powers to get out of control like they did before. Do you believe you can manage that? Because if not, it isn't safe for the residents of this apartment."

The teenage esper closed his eyes and took a deep breath. All Might was right: he couldn't allow his psychic powers to get out of control. He needed to prepare himself for the worst-case scenario and accept whatever happened. After three seconds of keeping his eyes closed and the air in his chest, he let out a deep exhale and slowly opened his eyes.

"I can manage."

All Might remained uncertain for a moment, but with the focused eyes and his fists clenched with determination, the number one hero chose to trust Shigeo. Besides, Shigeo had already expended most of his psychic energy, so hopefully, he wouldn't be able to cause any massive damage like before.

"Ok then, let's start."

The skinny hero logged into his account and opened up Google Chrome. "Now let's see if we can locate Seasoning City." All Might typed the city name into the search bar, but all the results revolved around some sort of dish or some sort of review for a restaurant. The sense of hopelessness began to creep inside of Shigeo's heart, but All Might wouldn't give up after only a single search.

"Do you remember your home address?"

"Yes, it's 18937 Spring Drive."

All Might went to the map section of his search browser and typed in the address. But alas, no results came up. The eyes of the young esper were beginning to falter and wet as they had done so many times today. Yet All Might still wouldn't let it go!

"Hold on! There's one final thing we can do!" All Might zoomed out of the map so the entire country of Japan filled the screen. "If you remember the approximate location of where your home town is, we can determine if your city is on the map!"

"Ok." The esper's voice was a croaky whisper, and he barely had the strength to grab the laptop and zoom in on the location of Seasoning City. All Might's hands were clenching his pants, and he felt several sweat beads falling down his face. He hoped that this last-resort would give him the location he needed and the hope of reuniting with his family. But in a day full of shocks and surprises, today would be the final shock: when Shigeo zoomed in to the location of Seasoning City, all he found was forest and a large lake.

This proved it. The lingering, growing fear that this wasn't the reality he'd grown up in had finally been confirmed. Shigeo wasn't home anymore. He didn't understand how it was possible, but it appeared that by absorbing the psychic energy, he'd been transported to another world, another dimension even. His family was... gone.

Without even realizing it, the esper's cheeks were stained again by the salty tears flowing down his face and dripping onto the couch cushions. A light aura began to shroud around the esper, his emotions fueling whatever his psychic powers could still muster. Shigeo felt as if all of the life had been sucked out of him. He wrapped his arms around his own body and crouched his upper body down like an infant. Everyone he knew and everyone important in his life was gone: he was all alone. Except... he wasn't.

Shigeo Kageyama's heart froze when he felt All Might's arms wrapping themselves around the esper's body. His head was resting on the hero's chest, and the tears were now wetting All Might's white shirt. All Might heaved a large sigh, his shoulders drooping down as he embraced the child. The number one hero understood all-too-well what it was like to lose someone close to him, and although his family and friends weren't exactly dead, there was no guarantee that Shigeo would ever get to see them again. So in a sense, they may as well have been dead. Furthermore, he was now in this totally random world with no one to count on, no one to give support. No one, except All Might.

"I'm so, so sorry, Kageyama," whispered All Might, "I know that your whole world has been turned upside down, that you think you'll never see your family again. I wish I could make it better. I wish I could take you to your family, let them know you're alright, but I can't. All I can say to you now is that I am here. I'll be here to help you, no matter what."

Even in the darkest shadow, the bleakest future where his family and friends would never reunite with him, the single ray of light shined on Shigeo Kageyama. The man who was here to lend his aid, who could understand his pain and had expressed his admiration for the esper's morals. In the sea of agony that swamped his soul, Shigeo was happy to know that All Might was there for him. This embrace, the warmth of All Might's body, the affection in his grasp, it was such a small gesture, yet in that moment, it was everything that the esper needed from the Symbol of Peace. Unable to control his emotions anymore, the teenage esper bawled like a baby, exposing himself and his emotions to the man whose arms were wrapped tightly around him. Deciding to wrap his own arms around the hero's chest, the teenager gripped All Might as hard as he could, allowing the full weight of his emotions to be released and having only thoughts of everyone he'd left behind while he leaned on the symbol of peace for support.

All Might began to feel something... unexpected. The light aura enveloping Shigeo shifted towards the hero. The teenager was inadvertently channeling his psychic energy over to All Might. Suddenly, he felt like a weight had been set in his heart. The hero's body began to tremble, and tears began to flow down the hero's eyes.

What was going on? All Might was feeling sad just now, sure, but he wasn't despairing so much that it left him with tears. So what caused this sudden shift in emotion? The only plausible explanation for this was that somehow, Kageyama was transferring his emotions along with his energy.

What's more, because of the thoughts of everyone close to him running through Shigeo's mind, these thoughts and memories flashed in All Might's mind, further supporting the assumption that Shigeo's energy was responsible for his sudden display of sadness. Although he could only see snippets, he was able to vividly see the faces of several different people smiling and laughing with him, including this green floating blob with dimples. So these were the people that Shigeo Kageyama left behind. How heartbreaking.

All Might didn't even pay attention to the increase of power he experienced or anything else, and remained silent while he allowed Shigeo to weep. The two remained locked in each others arms for a few minutes while the young esper let out all of his emotions. All Might was prepared to stay there alongside him for the entire night if he had to, but after a few minutes of bawling, he began to feel Shigeo's grip on his chest loosen.

"Kageyama?" All Might quickly realized that Shigeo had passed out. He must've finally tired himself out after all the psychic energy he spent today. The hero smiled and carried the young esper's body in his arms. He walked with the child to the guest room and gently placed him on the bed. He then moved the blankets from under Shigeo's body and rested them over the esper.

"Sleep, Shigeo Kageyama. You've earned it."

* * *

Sleep was something that others weren't getting. While things had been heating up in the new dimension Shigeo had been sent to, the action had finally simmered down back in the esper's home dimension. Once the esper had absorbed Suzuki's psychic energy, the impact created a very large explosion that shook the city.

Once the explosion had died down, Reigen immediately went back to the site of the explosion, along with Ritsu, Teruki, and Dimple.

"Come on, Mob..."

"Where are you, big brother..."

The four of them were surveying the entire area, trying to see if they could get a glimpse of Shigeo anywhere in the rubble. None of them had any idea what had happened or what Shigeo had gone back to do, and none of them would even consider the possibility that he had been killed in the blast. No, that kind of thinking was absolutely impossible.

As they continued walking through the rubble and devastation, they soon came across a crater that was about ten meters deep. In the center of that crater, they saw an unconscious man completely naked and laid face-down in the ground.

"It's the boss of Claw," exclaimed Hanazawa.

"But then where is..." All four of them exchanged nervous looks, and without a moment to lose, all sprinted down as fast as they could.

"Come on! Wake up!" Ritsu was the first to vigorously shake Toichiro's body. The violent esper's eyes fluttered open, and he was greeted with the sight of the same evil spirit that was with the child esper before, the child's master, and two other teenagers.

"Huh?"

"Where the hell is my big brother?" In the absence of clothing, Ritsu grabbed onto Suzuki's chest skin and stared at him with an absolutely desperate and unstable expression. "What did you do?"

"Wait..." The adult esper looked around him, and was surprised to see that the teenager he just did battle with was not here. "He was just with me..."

"Come on!" Reigen shouted, not in the mood to wait for this guy to process what was happening to him. "Mob went back to you! What did you do to him?"

"I..." Toichiro pieced together what had happened before he lost consciousness. "My body was about to explode and destroy the city. Then he came. He... tried to absorb my energy in an attempt to save the city. After that..." The adult esper lost his words, which only made everyone around him more anxious and infuriated.

"And THEN?"

"I'm not sure..."

"You still haven't answered my question!" Ritsu shoved Suzuki back down and hovered over him with a dark and intimidating aura. "What happened to my big brother?"

"When he absorbed the energy, he was enveloped in some sort of bright, multi-colored light. After that, he just... disappeared."

The air in the atmosphere dropped to freezing temperatures. Each and every one of them was trying to formulate what Suzuki meant by "disappeared", desperately trying to hope that it wasn't what they thought it was.

Dimple was the first of them to speak up. "So then you're saying Shigeo is..." Ritsu, Reigen, Hanazawa and Dimple were waiting with terrified anticipation.

"I don't think so,"

Ritsu gasped. "What do you mean by that?"

"When he was absorbing my energy, I felt some sort of intense struggle of psychic energy. The sheer intensity and quantity of the psychic energy appeared to cause some sort of profound effect, but somehow, I don't think it killed him. I can't explain it any better than that."

Each of them were taking this news differently than the rest. Dimple and Hanazawa were trying to decipher what Suzuki could've meant by that or pondering the possibilities of such a large amount of psychic energy being transferred over. Reigen, on the other hand, was disturbed by this news, not finding comfort in Suzuki's claims. But Ritsu was taking it the worst of the four.

"That's it? You don't THINK it killed him?" The young esper's multi-colored aura exploded around him, and everyone, even Reigen, could sense a dark chill surrounding Ritsu. "How the hell is that helpful? With the amount of psychic energy he absorbed, who the hell knows what happened to him or where he could be now! This-" Ritsu raised his hand, sending Suzuki crashing into the rocks. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

"Whoa, Ritsu!" The younger brother tried to continue to throttle Suzuki, but Hanazawa blocked his path and held out his arms. "You need to calm down."

"Calm down? CALM DOWN?!" The young esper's aura exploded, causing the terrain to crack and multiple rocks to float into the air. "My big brother is missing, I have no idea where he could be or if he's even alive, and you want me to fucking CALM DOWN?!"

Sweat trickled down Hanazawa's spine, and the esper slightly grimaced. He wasn't sure what to say that would make Ritsu snap out of this murderous rampage. But Reigen did.

"Ritsu." The con artist made his move and walked in front of Ritsu. The younger esper felt some of his rage simmer down when he saw how serious Reigen was looking at him. "I understand why you're feeling so angry now. I'm not saying you don't have the right to feel these emotions, especially knowing..." Reigen bit back his emotions as he tried to get this next part out of his mouth, "Knowing that Mob could be anywhere right now. But you can't let that rage consume you. If you allow it to control you, you'll end up doing something you're going to regret once you come to your senses, and it might come to haunt you for the rest of your life. I know because you're like your brother: a good soul."

Ritsu's sudden burst of rage was beginning to crumble. The aura around the esper quickly disappeared, and in the place of Ritsu's anger came the unbelievable grief and despair. This feeling of sadness enveloped him and caused him to lose all feeling in his legs. The esper fell to his knees, and stared up into the sky as tears streamed down his face.

"Big brother..."

"I know, kid." Reigen bent down and placed his hand on Ritsu's shoulder. The lying master felt a deep aching in his heart, and he could feel his eyes begin to water. He never wanted this to happen. He never intended to get Mob into so much trouble. He'd taken on the responsibility of being his master: whether or not he had psychic powers, it was still his job to make sure Mob was safe, and he'd failed. Now, there was no way of knowing what had happened to Mob or whether or not he was even alive. There was so much more he wanted to tell him. He wanted to apologize, to have the chance to show how proud he was of the person Shigeo had become, and more importantly, the person Shigeo had turned Reigen into. But now, he may never have that chance. It was a truly agonizing revelation.

"I know."

* * *

The night had passed and morning had come. Sleep was very difficult for All Might because of all of the day's events running through his mind, keeping his brain brimming with electrical activity. Most of his thoughts were centered around what he would do with Shigeo, as well as how he would begin training Midoriya. In addition, after All Might put Shigeo in bed, his mind came to terms with the slight increase of power his body felt. It didn't take him long to realize that Shigeo must've had the power to give his energy to others, and he accidentally gave All Might his energy when they embraced. It took him about two hours of lying awake in bed until his brain finally slowed down and allowed him to fall asleep.

It was 12:00 in the afternoon, and after a shower and a large breakfast, the number one hero was sitting outside on the main balcony, adjacent to the guest balcony.

"The kid's still asleep, huh? Goes to show how draining his battles were." At the moment, he was still thinking about what Shigeo's fate would be in this world. He'd thought about the possibility of sending him back to his home world, but he had no idea how that would be feasible. It seemed that the only way Shigeo had been able to do it was through absorbing twenty years worth of psychic energy that tore open a hole through reality and sent him to this world. That meant Shigeo would have to spend that same amount of time gathering the required energy to make it back home, and even then it wasn't a guarantee.

Another very slim possibility was that a quirk existed that could send the user to different dimensions. But that seemed equally impossible: even the power of warping in general was an extremely rare quirk, so to imagine there was someone out there who had an immensely enhanced version of that quirk was next to none. In that case, that meant Shigeo Kageyama was here to stay.

So what would become of him? With no one else to turn to and no actual record of his existence, it would be difficult for Shigeo to assimilate into regular society. All Might would probably have to create some sort of baloney story about him or fake his records somehow, as if he even knew how to do that. So that didn't leave the esper with much options for future occupations. But in Toshinori's mind, the most obvious path for him was the path of a hero. He possessed the pure heart and the amazing powers that were necessary for becoming a hero. He could become another beacon of hope people could look to, another symbol of peace like All Might!

However, something Shigeo did lack was the drive. It was apparent to All Might that being a hero was something Shigeo had never considered or cared about. To the esper, the lives he already saved and the impact he had on his city were minimal to him. But he couldn't be more wrong! All Might could see the amazing potential this child had and the way he could adapt to this new world as a hero.

That meant it was up to All Might to convince him to become a hero! In fact, what better school was there to go to than U.A. High School? He was already enlisting himself as a teacher there! If Shigeo went there, that would give him the chance to develop as a hero and allow All Might to keep a close eye on him and view his progress.

All Might knew, though, that he would have to break this to him gently. The pain of losing his family was still going to be fresh, so he'd probably have to give him some space for a few days, a few weeks maybe, until he floated his idea to him. In the meantime, there were still a few things All Might would need to take care of now that Shigeo was here to stay. Firstly, he'd need to buy some clothes for the teenage esper, as well as some basic toiletries. That was something he could take care of this afternoon while Shigeo finished getting his rest.

"Don't worry, kid. I'll help you however I can."

* * *

"Uggghhhh..."

The powerful esper's eyes opened up, and he stretched his body. For a second, he didn't understand where he was. But then when the memories of yesterday came back to him and the reality of what had happened to him set in, the esper sank and felt a heavy weight pushing down on him. He was now in an entirely new world. Mom, Dad, Ritsu, Hanazawa, Dimple, Reigen, Tsubomi, and everyone else at his school were now gone. Sorrow closed up his throat, and pain griped his chest.

The esper closed his eyes for a few moments, attempting to calm himself down. Now wasn't the time to let his emotions run wild again. He'd promised All Might. Speaking of All Might, where was he? After keeping this grief in check, the esper got himself out of bed and walked into the main living room to see if the hero was waiting for him.

"All Might?" The Symbol of Peace wasn't there. He walked to his bedroom, but found only his bed well-made and a dark bathroom. It appeared that All Might had left his apartment. Shigeo noticed a piece of paper left on the sofa. He picked it up and read it out loud.

_"Hey Kageyama. Left to buy you some clothes and toiletries. Be back in a few hours. Help yourself to whatever food you want."_ ~All Might

"All Might..." Once again, Shigeo felt a strong sense of gratitude for this hero who was giving him praise and support for everything he's been going through. In a world of negatives, he was the one positive.

He entered the kitchen area, but when he saw the time on the microwave, he yelped: it was 2:00 in the afternoon! He'd been asleep for more than 12 hours? That was crazy!

"I mean, I did exert my powers more than ever before, so I guess it makes sense." What's more, it appeared that a good night's sleep was all he needed to recover his psychic powers.

"I'll get myself some cereal." Shigeo opened the cabinets, and found a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. He grabbed the box, a bowl, and some milk from the fridge, and munched away at his meal. His thoughts were still revolved around memories of his loved ones and all the time they spent together, so he frowned as he ate his cereal.

Shigeo continued eating his cereal in silence for about ten to fifteen minutes, when suddenly, All Might burst through the door with multiple bags in his hands and looped around his arms.

"Oh, All Might."

"Hey Kageyama. I'm assuming you already saw my note."

"Yep."

"I didn't really know your fashion type, so I just bought some basic shirts and jeans. I also guessed your sizes, but if anything's too big, I have the receipts and can return anything you don't like."

Shigeo combed through all of the different shirts and clothing items in the bags. Most of them were singularly colored, a few of them had some basic patterns on the shoulders or logos on the left pectoral section. He also noticed some basic running shoes, sneakers, and even some sandals. In the other bags, there was basic toiletries, such as a toothbrush, toothpaste, a comb, soap, shampoo, and many other things he would require.

"I think that accounts for everything," said Shigeo, "Thank you."

"Not a problem." The number one hero sighed and took a seat on the couch. "Once again, I'm sorry that for everything that's happened to you."

The esper's eyes fell to the ground, and he took a seat in a chair adjacent to the sofa. "It's just so crazy to imagine absorbing that energy took me to an entirely different world."

"Indeed. At the very least, you can take some solace in the fact that your friends and family aren't dead. Although it's unclear how we're going to get you back, I assure you that I'm going to find whatever clues I can that could lead you back to your world."

Shigeo's eyes turned back up to All Might, and the esper once again was happy to know that All Might was here to help him. Hell, in his eyes, All Might had already become his number one hero. "I can't thank you enough."

The frail man chuckled and leaned forward. "Last night, when you cried in my arms, I could see brief images of several people flashing before my eyes."

"You did?" Shigeo was confused by this at first, but he realized that he must've unintentionally transferred his power when his psychic powers increased, and since his mind was filled with the thoughts of everyone he cared about, some of those thoughts must have been moved over to All Might's mind as well.

Shigeo tried to give a brief explanation. "In addition to absorbing psychic energy, I can also give psychic energy to others. I've learned that I can also share memories when I transfer my energy to others, so I inadvertently sent you images of everyone I left behind."

"Tell me about them. Who were they?" The skinny hero tried to lighten up the mood and ask another question on his mind. "And more importantly, what was that green blob?"

The young esper lightly chuckled. "Yea, that's Dimple. He's an evil spirit I fought once." The young esper gave a brief explanation of how he came across Dimple, his plans to become a God, and the way he had come to accompany him and become a good friend. All Might took this information in with burgeoning interest and slight suspicion towards this Dimple character. It almost sounded as if this evil spirit was trying to use Shigeo as a means to enact his own plans for godhood. However, it was too early to tell, and it seemed that Shigeo had deep trust in this spirit, so he didn't want to say anything too rash.

"It seems Dimple is quite the loyal companion."

"Yea, he is."

"And the others..."

"I don't know how many people you saw, but I'm guessing you saw my younger brother, Ritsu, the one with the spiked-up black hair, Teruki Hanazawa, the teenager with the blonde hair who happens to be my best friend, and my master, Reigen, the one wearing the business suit."

"Your master?" All Might's curiosity piqued considerably at this statement. The hero could only imagine the unbelievable wisdom and power this Reigen must have possessed if he was the one who guided Shigeo on the path to humility and gratefulness.

"What is he like?"

"He's amazing!" Shigeo's eyes shined with admiration and pride for his master. "He helped me to control my powers when I was a kid, and he's the one who taught me that my psychic powers don't make me better than others."

The symbol of peace smiled and reclined in his seat. As he expected, this Reigen seemed to be a truly righteous man who molded the esper into the amazing character he was now. "It's good to hear that."

"Yea..." Shigeo Kageyama's pain resurfaced when the memories of his master and the last words he exchanged with him came back. "Master. What would he say? What would he tell me to do?"

All Might inched closer to the edge of the couch and sat in silence while Shigeo tried to make sense of his emotions at that moment. "I don't have him, and I don't have anyone else to rely on except for you, All Might. If I won't be able to make it back home for a while, then... what do I do now?"

It appeared that Shigeo had asked himself this question sooner than he expected. Nevertheless, the symbol of peace knew it was still too early to be telling the esper what he thought his future would be. So All Might decided to remain gentle and give Shigeo his advice. "I'm not sure what the future will hold for you, Kageyama, but I'm sure that your master would want you to remain strong. For now, allow yourself to adjust to this new world, and the answers to your questions will come in time."

The phenomenal esper knew that All Might was right. He was sure his master wouldn't want him to mope around like a nobody. Once he allowed the pain of his losses to pass, the esper would somehow find a way to make sure that he'd find a new purpose in this world and make sure he became a somebody.

* * *

**And there we go! Now that Shigeo has learned he is no longer in his world anymore, his journey into this new world begins, and back at home, Shigeo's absence is beginning to take its toll on everyone he loves. So let's see how this will advance and what will happen to Shigeo Kageyama in Chapter 5 of 100 Percent Hero.**


	5. The First Steps

After All Might returned with the things for Shigeo, the rest of the way was rather quiet and uneventful. The young esper spent most of the time sitting outside on the balcony, continuing to think about everyone he'd lost and accepting the pain that it brought him. All Might, being the respectful individual he was, left Shigeo alone to bask in his thoughts. Besides, he still had some work to do: he needed to properly plan out Midoriya's workout schedule for several months, knowing it would take quite some time to whip the quirkless teenager in-shape before he could inherit One for All. He needed to plan out the workout schedule, the times for each exercise, the weights he would need, how much rest he would need, what time he would need to get up every day, practically everything about Midoriya's routine would have to be changed.

When they ate dinner, the setting was rather quiet as well. All Might would ask Shigeo a few questions about his friends and the other people he saw in his head, and the esper gave him brief explanations about them, going into some details about Ritsu's intelligence, physical aptitude, and general superiority in basically everything he tried. He also briefly talked about how he'd come to meet Hanazawa, although he didn't go into many details about the conflict that had occurred between them, and All Might didn't press for those details. Immediately after, the esper decided to organize all his toiletries and clothes in his new room and took a long shower.

The night had passed, and both All Might and Shigeo stayed up for at least an hour, until the next day had arrived. Unlike the previous day, this day would be slightly more eventful. It was 7:30 in the morning: All Might was making himself breakfast and preparing himself to go out. This was the day the hero had told Midoriya they would meet at the Dagoba Municipal Beach Park. It was the day he would begin training Midoriya to wield the unbelievable power of One for All.

The door to Shigeo's room creaked open, and the esper walked out, detecting the aroma of a salty breakfast in the air. "All Might."

"Good morning, Kageyama. Did you sleep alright?"

"More or less."

"Would you like me to make you some eggs?"

"Sure, if it's not a problem."

"Of course not!" The number one hero grabbed two more eggs from the fridge and began cooking breakfast for the young esper. While he was doing this, Shigeo decided to get himself a glass of milk and sat at the kitchen counter while he waited for All Might to finish cooking breakfast. After a few minutes, the number one hero grabbed two plates and utensils to serve the eggs for himself and the esper.

"Thank you very much."

The hero nodded, and the two superpowered humans began to eat their breakfast. The esper grabbed the saltshaker and lightly spread some salt over his eggs. While they were eating, Shigeo recalled something about this day, something he'd told the young teenager two days before.

"Hey All Might, isn't this the day you said you'd meet Izuku at that park?"

"Correct."

"What're you going to do with him?"

"Well, in order to properly wield my quirk, the user's body must be extremely tough and durable, or else the strain of One for All will be too much to bear. I plan on training him to increase his physical strength enough so when the time comes, he'll be able to take my quirk without difficulty."

"Huh, physical training..." The Body Improvement Club was the first thing that came to his mind. Even after training with them for quite some time, his strength was still rather weak in comparison to other people his age.

All Might could see the flash of memories and sadness in his eyes, as if something he said triggered an internal emotional reaction. But what?

"Would you like to come along, Kageyama?" One of the first assumptions he made was that perhaps he wanted to see Midoriya, since he was the only teenager who knew who he was.

The young esper contemplated All Might's offer, and saw no reason to object. Furthermore, now that the hero brought up the subject of physical training, it caused Shigeo to formulate a question of his own.

"All Might, do you think you could... train me too?"

The symbol of peace was not expecting to get such a request from Shigeo, and he held his fork inside his mouth for a few seconds. The hero slowly took the fork out of his mouth and placed it back on the plate.

"Train you?"

"Like I told you before, without my powers, I have almost no other skills. One thing I've been trying to do is work out. At my school, I was a member of the Body Improvement Club, where I exercised constantly. Even with that training, I still haven't built up a very strong body, so I need to keep working at it. Besides, I don't want to just sit around and do nothing during my time here."

All Might's trademark smile lit up his face. Once again, Shigeo was proving himself to be a noble hero who wanted to focus on becoming a better person in different fields than his powers. The hero gave the esper a big thumbs-up. "It would be my pleasure."

The powerful teenager gave a small smile, happy to know he could join the number one hero with his training regiment.

"Let's hurry up, though. We should be going in about 20 minutes or so, meaning you should ideally be finished with your breakfast in the next minute, then start taking a shower shortly after."

"Got it!" Shigeo and All Might began to increase the pace of their eating, and quickly put their plates in the sink, where they they speedily paced to their individual showers and prepared themselves for the exercise that was about to come.

* * *

The sun was beginning to rise. The warm orange rays of light slowly shined on the city. Walking through the streets of the city and ready to meet All Might was Izuku Midoriya. He'd been waiting with great earnest for every minute of every hour ever since All Might had chosen him to inherit his quirk.

He had continued to geek out about All Might and his quirk, looking up some articles online about quirk inheritance and some conspiracy theories about passing on quirks, but the conspiracy theories were all lauded and run by some very shady websites. Nevertheless, he knew that whatever it was All Might had in store for him, Midoriya would have to be ready for it!

After about thirty minutes of walking through the empty city, Izuku finally made it to the entrance of the park All Might had instructed him to go to. Instead of a sign, there was a rock that had the name of the park carved on a placard and with graffiti surrounding it. "My god, I didn't realize how much trash there was."

The first impression Midoriya got as he walked down the stairs leading to the park was how large the stacks of garbage were. Many different pieces of trash, metal, discarded appliances, poles, and random objects littered the area. The mounds were so high that they blocked the rising sun.

"Midoriya!" The quirkless teenager heard the booming voice of All Might coming from his right. He turned, and sure enough, All Might was there in his muscular form, wearing a black t-shirt with dark blue sweatpants. But what was slightly more surprising was that Shigeo was right beside him, wearing a white t-shirt and black shorts.

"All Might!" Midoriya ran up to the pair and greeted them with a warm smile. "I'm glad that I made it here on-time." Midoriya's attention then shifted towards Shigeo.

"Hey Kageyama. What're you doing here?"

The number one hero gently patted Shigeo on the back. "Young Kageyama here will be joining us for our activities from now on."

"Wait, what do you mean? Don't you have a family to go back to? Weren't you lost or something?"

Midoriya immediately regretted his wording when he saw his question illicit a look of horror form on Shigeo's face and his lips droop down into a frown. All Might let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes in solace.

"I'm afraid that Shigeo will not be able to get in touch with his family anytime soon."

"Huh? Why? What happened to them?"

All Might closed his eyes and bowed his head slightly downward. "It's a long story. Kageyama, do you think you're up for recounting your story and what happened to you?"

Izuku could see the obvious pain Shigeo was in, and he didn't want to make him say anything he didn't want to.

"No, no! You don't need to tell me anything!" The quirkless teenager held his hands out and tried to dismiss the idea that clearly seemed uncomfortable for Shigeo, "Really, it's fine!"

"No." All Might and Midoriya briefly froze when they heard Shigeo speak. The phenomenal esper forced his hands into fists, and looked up at Izuku with sternness in his face. "It's alright. I can handle it."

"Oh, okay..." Izuku was not expecting Shigeo to be so resolute in detailing what had happened to him. It looked as though he was trying to be tough, to overpower the sadness associated with the previous events in order to tell Midoriya what he was curious to know.

The three decided to seat themselves in preparation for a long explanation. Shigeo laid his hands on his lap and was ready to recount his story. "Alright, here goes..."

The mighty esper began explaining his story. He started off by explaining the city he was from and his family. He transitioned into how psychic powers generally functioned, the existence of evil spirits, and his job at his master's business exorcising them. Next, he went on to the existence of evil espers and the organization Claw. Briefly discussing when he first confronted them, he moved onto his most recent assault against the organization, talking about his battle with Toichiro Suzuki and explaining his overall plan.

At first, Midoriya remained rather silent and didn't find it too hard to believe what he was hearing. But when he moved onto explaining his battles with Claw, he was just as shocked as All Might first was when he'd heard the story. Like him, Midoriya was baffled that Shigeo was forced to fight the leader of a large organization of superpowered humans, something that only pro heroes would even attempt. Then, the shock reached its height when Shigeo explained that he actually absorbed the phenomenal energy Toichiro was unleashing in an attempt to save the city.

When the esper finished his explanation, Midoriya's mouth was gaping open, and his eyes were as wide as dinner plates. "So you're saying you got sent to this dimension when you absorbed that insane amount of psychic energy?!"

"That's right." Shigeo's lips were pursed into a tight line, understanding the disbelief that would arise by such a crazy story. "So now, it looks like I'm stuck in this world with no way to get back home."

"My god..." If it weren't for Midoriya meeting All Might and learning that quirks could actually be transferred, he might not have believed this story. But after that, his view of the world had been opened widely, so a superpowered human from another dimension suddenly didn't seem so farfetched.

With the explanation finished, the first thing Midoriya did was give his condolences to this teenager separated from his family and his home. "I'm so sorry for your loss, Kageyama."

"Thank you." Shigeo lifted himself onto his feet and looked off into the sky. "The pain's still here, and I'll continue to miss them, but I'm going to keep on living and try to make the best of what I have now. It's what they'd want."

Midoriya was stunned silent by the resolve this teenager was demonstrating. All Might, however, let out a hardy laugh, having come to learn this side of Kageyama after spending a few days with him. "This is the determination that makes him so impressive! Take some notes from him, Midoriya! Now then..."

All Might stood up and walked over to a large fridge. He lifted the fridge up and placed it on the flat ground. Next, he took out some rope he had in his pocket and tied it around the base of the fridge. Finally, he grabbed the ends of the rope and stretched them out a few meters in front of him.

"Alright, you two!" All Might pointed his finger at the rope, and the two teenagers got the message. They grasped the rope, and All Might jumped on top of the fridge. "Now both of you move this fridge to that trash pile over there!" The hero pointed a few dozen meters in front of him. "Try to wrap the rope around your bodies to increase the amount of force you're exerting!" Both teenagers exchanged nervous looks. This was certainly some unorthodox training. But this was All Might, after all, so he knew what he was doing.

"GGRRAAAGGGHH!" And so their training began. The two teenagers started tugging on the refrigerator with all of their might. They closed their eyes and grit their teeth as they tugged the fridge, yet the weight of the fridge and the lack of muscles either of them had made it a fruitless effort.

"Hey, you two! Y'all doin okay down there? The view's great from up here!" Shigeo and Izuku continued this resistance for several more seconds, until neither of them could continue, and both fell simultaneously on the ground. "Doing what I'm asking you to do now is something that's done on a regular basis by most people, and they don't have super strength or a second person to assist them!"

Shigeo and Izuku pushed themselves back up. "I mean, you add like an extra 600 pounds we're having to pull..." Midoriya commented.

"No, that's a bit of an overestimation. Now-a-days, I'm at around 560 pounds while I'm in this form."

"By the way, why are we dragging trash across the beach like this?" asked Izuku.

"Yea, I'm used to using weight machines or dumbbells," added Shigeo.

The number one hero heartily laughed and took out his red cellphone. "Look at the two of you!" All Might took multiple pictures and made sure to take individual pictures as well, "Midoriya, there's no way you're ready to take my quirk now!"

Upon hearing this, Midoriya looked up with comedic tears in his eyes and his jaw comically opened. "Huh?! But you told me I was worthy!"

"No." Shigeo spoke up and tried to straighten out exactly what All Might was trying to say. "It's not what you think it means."

"I'm referring to your underdeveloped body," All Might said while moving forward and taking pictures, preparing to explain what he'd told Shigeo less than an hour ago. "The power of my quirk is a real handful! The combined strength and abilities of everyone who's ever used it creates an unbelievable power. If you inherited it now, your limbs would shoot off your body, and you'd lose your head!"

"Seriously?!"

"Man, what power!" The teenagers were baffled by the dire consequences of inheriting One for All without proper training beforehand. But now, Midoriya got the full idea of what All Might was trying to do with him here.

"I see now. So you brought me here to do a high-intensity workout regiment, and you're my trainer!"

The symbol of peace gave Midoriya a thumbs up. "That's right. Now, going to your question, Kageyama, another reason why I chose this place and the unusual training exercises instead of more regular ones is because of some research I did last night." All Might paced back to the fridge and continued speaking, "I learned this beach once had crystal water and sparkling white sand, but over the last few years," All Might lightly banged the fridge, but with his phenomenal strength, even a tiny bang was enough to dent the appliance. "It's turned into a real mess."

"How come?" Shigeo asked.

"Well, the ocean current washes the trash onto the shore, and a lot of people use the mess to illegally dump their own garbage here. It's why nobody ever comes here anymore."

The esper was slightly saddened to know that such a beautiful place was being ruined by people and their trash. All Might shared in that disappointment. "

In this day and age, all heroes prioritize are catching villains or stopping natural disasters." All Might grabbed the top of the fridge and began to crush it like a giant soda can. "Before quirks appeared, people cared more about helping the community and doing basic but important service work. Even if it might not have been the most stimulating job," All Might crushed the fridge with enough force that a pile of trash behind him flew in the air, creating short air waves and revealing the beautiful sun rising over the gleaming ocean.

"For your first tasks, both of you will remove all of the trash from this area of the beach and restore it to its former glory."

Although the mission seemed noble, the futility of such an undertaking became apparent to Midoriya. "You mean, you want us to remove all of THIS! There's... no way we can do that!"

"I mean..." Shigeo didn't see it as such an impossible task: quite the opposite, Shigeo could probably remove all the trash from this beach in less than a minute. "If you really wanted me to, All Might, I could use my psychic powers to clean the beach."

"HA HA HA HA!" The symbol of peace walked back up to the two teenagers. "I appreciate the sentimentality, Shigeo. Perhaps once your training is done, you could take that approach, but for now, let's focus on removing the trash through hard work. Midoriya," All Might's focus veered to the quirkless teenager, "Your dream is to attend U.A. High, is it not?"

Izuku nodded his head. "That's right. It's your alma mater, which goes to show how amazing of a school it is." The teenager clenched his fist and looked down with slightly fearful yet dominantly hopeful eyes. "I know the odds are stacked against me, but it doesn't matter! I'm gonna reach for the stars and attend U.A.!"

The number one hero was pleased to see this deep determination from the quirkless child. "That spirit will get you quite far, fanboy!" All Might turned his body around and gazed out into the endless sea. "But like I told you before, without a quirk, being a hero becomes extremely difficult. It's a harsh reality, I know, but it is reality nevertheless. And U.A. has the lowest acceptance rate of any hero course, so-"

Izuku interrupted All Might and finished his thoughts, "So that means if I wanna make it there, I'll have to put in twice the effort of any other applicants as soon as possible! I mean, the entrance exam is in only ten months!"

The symbol of peace dramatically took out several pieces of paper he had tucked on the waist of his pants. "Do not fret, young Midoriya! I've already planned in preparation for the exam, and put together an extensive workout routine for the next ten months! I call it your "Aim To Pass American Dream Plan!" In this schedule, I also ironed out all the other details of your life in the process!"

Midoriya took the pieces of paper and began to read them. "For you, Kageyama, I didn't have time to make a workout schedule for you. If you'd like, I could create one for you tonight."

"Yea, I'd like that."

"Oh my god..." Midoriya read over the hours of exercise and the amount of time he'd be putting into this routine. "You even planned out my sleep schedule?"

"Whoa..." Shigeo loomed over Izuku's shoulder and was baffled by the amount of time Midoriya would be putting into this. Hell, even the Body Improvement Club didn't go on for so many hours or make him wake up at such early times.

"Yea..." All Might rubbed the back of his head. "I'm going to just give it to you straight here, this is going to be a really rough ride. Are you up for it?" All Might was wondering if this kind of intense training was something Shigeo would be up for as well. "Kageyama, would you like to follow Midoriya's schedule as well? It'll be extremely arduous: I can tone down the intensity if you'd prefer."

The esper was surprised by how much time Izuku would have to put into this workout. If this kind of training would give him the physical body he needed in order to obtain such a strong quirk, then Shigeo Kageyama wanted to get a body just like that, no matter what it took.

"No. I'll stick to the same plan as Midoriya."

"Really?" Izuku wasn't expecting Shigeo to be so willing to go to the lengths he was. Would he really be ok with breaking his back and waking up before the sun rose every day?

The esper gazed at the quirkless teenager and curved up the corners of his lips. "You won't be doing this alone."

Midoriya was unsure of the path ahead of him, and hoped that his efforts would be enough to inherit One for All, but now, knowing that there would be someone beside him, doing the work with him, it served as another small source of inspiration for the quirkless teenager. "Awesome."

All Might looked at the scene of support and nodded his head. With these two working hard together, he was positive it would lead to great things.

"Now let's keep going!"

And with that, the hellish 10 month training for the two middle schoolers had begun.

The next training activity that All Might had them do was pull two large filing cabinets. Both teenagers were heaving with all of their might, although Midoriya was ahead of Kageyama by a few inches.

"Come on, you two! Put your backs into it!" yelled All Might.

"Body Improvement! Fight on! Fight on!" Shigeo spoke his club's mantra through strained breaths. Midoriya heard Kageyama repeating this phrase and gave the esper a perplexed look.

"Why do you keep saying that?"

"That's the mantra," Shigeo said while continuing his exercise, "That the Body Improvement Club would say whenever doing exercises. It's a club I was a part of."

All Might overheard Shigeo comment on this and regarded the phrase as admirable. Even something as simple as a phrase could give a boost in passion. Whoever was in that club, they must've been extremely committed to increasing their physical strength.

"Sounds exactly like what you need to do to inherit my quirk, Midoriya! You must fight on!"

The quirkless teenager quickly realized that All Might was right: fighting on was the only chance he had of becoming a hero.

"Fight... ON!" Shigeo was surprised to hear that the mantra came out of Midoriya's lips now. The quirkless teenager decided to follow Shigeo's idea and repeat this mantra as a way to further invigorate himself. It couldn't hurt. The two teenagers exchanged small smiles, and began to repeat the mantra in unison.

"Fight on! Fight on! Fight on!"

All Might's smile reached all the way up to his ears. That was the way to go!

The rest of the day continued on with more exercises involving the garbage around them. Some of the exercises involved running while carrying a tire, more pulling appliances, running in general, and even using a rather worn-out bench press set. Throughout the day, both teenagers were having a difficult time keeping up with the high standards required for this training, but it was made clear that Shigeo was the weaker of the two. Although he was definitely better than before, and the gap between their strength wasn't exceptionally large, in all of the exercises, Shigeo was the first one who would stumble and fall, the one who was always out of breath more quickly, and the one who could lift less weight. All Might realized that Shigeo was unfortunately correct in his assertion of his weak body barring psychic powers. For someone of his age, it was definitely below average.

By the time their training was done for the day, the sun was beginning to set, and both teenagers laid on the ground, panting like dogs and with sweat drenching their clothing. "That's enough for the day," said All Might. The hero helped the two boys up off the ground and waited for them to regain their strength. "Both of you showed real heart out there. Continue with that heart, and you'll definitely be ready for the U.A. entrance exam in ten months!"

The quirkless teenager's eyes lit up, and he straightened his body with confidence. "I'll make sure I'm ready!"

"Now Kageyama, let's go home." The hero and the esper began their voyage back to the apartment, when Midoriya brought up a question he'd never really thought about until now. "Wait, you're... staying with All Might?"

"Uh-huh."

Izuku Midoriya felt like his mind was about to explode. Someone actually had the opportunity to live beside All Might, the number one hero in the world, to see what his home life was like and who he was behind closed doors?

"Wow!" Izuku didn't think anyone would have such an up-close view of the symbol of peace. Maybe Shigeo could tell him a few little nuggets of info on his hero.

The powerful esper could see why Izuku would be amazed at his living arrangement, but didn't reciprocate the shock and jealousy his training partner did.

"Anyway," Shigeo briefly lifted his hand up to bid farewell to his training comrade. "See you tomorrow!"

"Goodbye, you two!" The pair of superpowered humans strolled through the large piles of garbage until they made it back to the road and walked along the sidewalk. The first day of training was over, but there would be many more to come.

* * *

If Shigeo was honest, he didn't really know what he'd signed up for. Later that night, All Might printed up another copy of the workout schedule he made for Izuku Midoriya, with some slight changes. Once he had the chance to look it over in more detail, he got a better idea of the hours he'd be training and the times he'd have to get up. Compared to the Body Improvement Club training, this was like a journey through hell for the young esper. Against all of this pressure and suffering, Shigeo Kageyama refused to give in to defeat. His determination and focus towards his goal of improving himself was as strong as ever: however, beyond that, the esper didn't know what else his life would bring him here.

The days passed by, and the three continued coming to the beach and doing several exercises. The training helped Shigeo take his mind off of his friends and family, and the chemicals released from his brain after the physical training also served to lessen his internal sorrow. Shigeo's only focus was to continue his training: it was all he could focus on, or else he'd go mad from depression.

During all of the training days, Izuku Midoriya silently but firmly worked alongside Shigeo in their workouts. He tried to keep any conversation away from his past and maintain a more casual relationship, and for the time, it was working to create a regular bond between the two teenagers. However, as they spent more time together and Midoriya got a better chance to know what he was like, he began to develop a sense of curiosity towards his training partner. He couldn't help but wonder what he could do with his psychic powers and whether or not he was capable of everything he claimed in his stories. More importantly, why would Shigeo care about working out with the powers he had? It seemed basically pointless to Izuku.

About a week had passed since Shigeo had arrived to this dimension, and the two teenagers were resting together on the beach. They were currently indulging in the ten minute break allotted for them on their schedules. Shigeo and Izuku looked up at the sky with their arms planted behind them and keeping their upper bodies off the ground.

"Man," Izuku said, initiating the conversation between them, "Can you feel the huge aching in your muscles?"

"Yep," replied Shigeo, "I'm surprised I'm still standing. Hopefully this pain will go away as my muscles get stronger."

"Let's HOPE it does." The two training partners let out a brief chuckle before they went into silence. Shigeo and Izuku remained silent for a few more seconds, until Izuku finally decided to venture into more personal territory and assuage his developing curiosity.

"Hey Kageyama."

"Yea?"

"How come you're doing this?" The esper's eyebrows arched up, and he turned his chest to face Izuku. "I mean, I'm doing this so I'll be strong enough to inherit One for All, but what drives you to wake up so early in the morning to work yourself ragged alongside me?"

Shigeo was kind of expecting this question from Izuku eventually, knowing how much he wanted to gain power and how amazed he was at the story Shigeo told him. "I'm doing this because I want to improve myself."

"But how come? With your psychic powers, based on what you told me, it gives you unbelievable strength and abilities!"

The teenage esper shook his head. "That might be true, but those powers don't solve everything for me, and they haven't been helpful in making me popular." The quirkless teenager, like All Might, found it very difficult to believe that a psychic human like this wouldn't be revered for the powers he possessed. Shigeo continued, "Besides, you've seen first-hand how weak I am. In all of our exercises, I'm the first one to stop to take a breather or even pass out from exhaustion."

Izuku Midoriya remembered those scenes all-too-well: a few instances during their training, particularly during their long-distance running, Shigeo had become so drained that he passed out from the strain on his body. Although he woke up about half-an-hour later, it was a rather surprising occurrence for Midoriya and All Might, and from that point on, All Might slightly toned down the intensity of Shigeo's training. "And that's after spending a few months training! Before, I could barely run a mile without fainting. Besides that, there are areas my psychic powers can't fix for me, like reading the surroundings, knowing how to interact socially, and plenty of other things."

Izuku Midoriya took all of this information in with shock and analysis. The quirkless teenager had never really considered any deficiencies or flaws in people not associated with their quirks. Ever since he was a kid, he was taught that quirks were what made people who they were. But the fact that someone with amazing powers wasn't self-righteous or overly proud about his abilities was something he never encountered before.

"Wow," Izuku said, "I've never really looked at powers in that sense before. It's nothing like at my school."

Now it was Shigeo's turn to ask a question. "What do you mean?"

Midoriya leaned his body further backward and gazed up into the sky. "At my school, everybody is judged based on their quirk. Almost everybody in my school has a quirk, and I'm the only odd one out. Quirks are the only thing people care about."

"Really?"

"Yep. There's this one kid in my class, his name's Bakugo. He's got the ability to create explosions, and the sweat he secretes only makes those explosions stronger. It's one of the strongest quirks I've come across, and because of that, he's got a lot of friends."

"Is that so?" That logic contradicted everything he had come to believe from the time at his middle school. More importantly, if everyone in his school had quirks, and they all valued others based on quirks, what did that make Midoriya?

"So what about you?" Shigeo was almost afraid to ask Izuku this question. "How do you fit into your school without a quirk?"

The quirkless teenager remained silent for a few seconds, and his eyes darkened as all of the past trauma and ridicule came back to him. "It's not fun. Almost everyone at my school either ignores me or makes fun of me because I don't have a quirk."

A weight settled on the esper's heart. People at his school made fun of him because he had no powers? What a horrible feeling it must be, to be ostracized and ridiculed by his classmates because he didn't have powers. That mockery and ridicule was something Shigeo was all-too-familiar with, but he never imagined it would come to someone else because they didn't have powers.

"That's not right. They shouldn't criticize you for not having powers."

"It's true. In fact, Bakugo probably makes fun of me the most. When my teacher revealed I wanted to attend U.A. High, he mocked me and called me a worthless nobody."

"What?!" His flesh prickled, and his every muscle tensed. The esper could not imagine his training partner being mercilessly ridiculed and tormented like that. It was unacceptable!

Midoriya's gaze went back down to Shigeo, and he saw the growing hostility on the esper's face. "Whoa, Shigeo."

"I'm sorry, it's just..." Shigeo forced himself to temper his frustrations, and his fists unclenched themselves. "It just frustrates to imagine he'd go to such lengths to ridicule you. It's plain wrong. Besides, he has no right to make fun of you based on whether or not you have powers. That shouldn't define someone for who they are."

"Hey you two!" Izuku and Shigeo were interrupted by All Might, who had just finished setting up the next training exercises and getting all of the necessary equipment, if trash could be called equipment. "Let me join in on this." The symbol of peace sat on the ground next to Midoriya.

"So what have you two been talking about while I was gone?" said All Might.

"He was telling me about his life at school," replied Shigeo, "How the hierarchy is based on quirks."

"Ah yes." All Might was painfully aware of the importance quirks had in this society, and had already explained it a bit to Shigeo before. Now Midoriya was giving him a better glimpse into what life was like for those who didn't have quirks. "As I told you before, about 20% of the population does not have a quirk, which unfortunately makes them an easy target for others."

"It's alright, though. I'm not physically bullied or anything. Besides, there are still some people who're nice enough to me at my school, so it's not as bad as you might think." Midoriya tried to take the focus off of himself and look past the troubles that plagued his school life. Instead, he tried to shift the topic toward another area of interest the quirkless teenager had been developing ever since he met Shigeo.

"You know, Kageyama, I've spent a lot of time taking notes and analyzing other people's quirks, but I've never really gotten a good look of your powers besides that first instance when we met. Would you mind giving me a good demonstration of your powers?"

"Oh." Shigeo had rarely been asked to show his powers. It was an unexpected request from Izuku. Regardless, the powerful esper saw no problem in giving the quirkless teenager a show of his powers. The teenager lifted himself off of the ground, and his aura began to shine around him. All Might and Izuku soon saw the water in the ocean begin to rise. Not only was the water in the ocean rising several meters, but hundreds of thousands of gallons of water were rising. The water flowed in a circular motion, like a snake coiling around its prey. The two spectators were left stunned by this display. After a few seconds of this swirling in the air, the esper released the hold on the water, and it all crashed back down with a large thud.

"Was that enough for you?"

The spectating student was so awestruck by this display, he could only let out a basic reply. "Uh-huh!"

"Such..." All Might was equally dazzled by the capacity of this child's psychic abilities, "Such raw power."

For Shigeo Kageyama, this feat and the many more feats he could do with his psychic powers were practically irrelevant to him, and he casually walked back to the training area. "Let's hurry up. Our break is already over."

Izuku was the first one to formulate a statement.

"Shigeo, your powers, they're... unbelievable!"

"Eh." The esper merely shrugged his shoulders and continued walking to the training area. "That's not really the way I see them. Now come on, Izuku, All Might. Back to training."

The two of them took a few seconds to dispel the shock of seeing Shigeo unleash his powers like this, and stood back up. But the amazement the quirkless teenager had with Shigeo's powers did not fade away. Contrary to what the esper believed, his psychic powers were incredible. Who knew what he could do with them?

* * *

Working through the pain and sweating like dogs, the two teenagers had completed the pain-staking exercises for the day. Both were panting on the ground, the sweat dripping down their chins and moistening their entire faces.

"Excellent work as always, you two!" All Might said, "I'll give you boys a minute to regain your strength, then you can go home and get some much-needed rest."

The symbol of peace went to get some of the equipment ready for tomorrow, leaving Shigeo and Izuku alone.

Ever since Izuku had gotten another demonstration of Shigeo's powers, his thoughts were only focused on what they could do, what Shigeo could do. The potential he had, all the good he could do, all the good he already did based on the stories he'd heard, Izuku saw no end to it.

"Hey Kageyama."

"Yea?"

"Have you... ever considered about enrolling at U.A. High with me?"

The esper's lips parted slightly, unprepared for such a dramatic question. "Huh?"

The quirkless child elaborated on what his feelings were on the matter. "Haven't you ever wondered all the good your powers can do, the lives they can save? With your abilities, you can become a hero. In fact, I'd say that you're already a hero!"

Shigeo felt his skin begin to tingle from the sincerity of his training partner's praise. "You really think so?"

"Of course! Based on what you've told me, you've already done the work of most heroes and beyond by saving an entire city from destruction and taking down an evil organization! That's incredible! To me, it shows how much potential you have. Think about it: imagine yourself as a hero."

Such passion, such admiration. The esper could see and hear in Izuku's voice the faith he had in his powers. All Might had spoken to him with this kind of respect before, praised him for his deeds and resolve. In their eyes, the esper was like an unpolished gemstone that was waiting to be chiseled and polished so that it's brilliant luster could shine.

"Kageyama," All Might had finished preparations for the next day of training, and was now motioning for the esper with his hand. "Let's head out."

"Ok!" Shigeo stood up and glanced at his training comrade. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yep. At least consider enrolling at U.A." Mob nodded, and with a small wave of his hand, he left the quirkless teenager and began walking with All Might back to their apartment. Midoriya's statement made him think quite a bit: his training partner already had a clear goal he was striving towards and a future planned out for him. It wasn't the same for Kageyama: he really had no idea what was going to become of him in this new world or when the chance would arise for him to return home. So what would he choose to become during his time here? Was becoming a hero really the best course of action for Mob? As soon as they started walking home, Shigeo decided to ask All Might for his two cents on the issue.

"All Might, do you think I should enroll at U.A.?"

The number one hero was completely caught off-guard by this question. Toshinori was waiting to bring it up himself after a few more days of training: he hadn't counted on Shigeo bringing the matter up himself. "Why do you ask?"

"It's just that Midoriya was talking to me just now and telling me I should become a hero. Do you agree with him?" It made sense to All Mightthat Izuku would be the one to bring this up to him, considering how much he enjoyed heroes and his determination to become a hero. The frail man took a few seconds to compose his thoughts and think of the right words to tell him.

"I've told you this before, and I'll tell you it again: you have the heart of a true hero. With your compassion, selflessness, and humble nature, combined with your psychic powers, I believe the sky is the limit for what you can achieve.

Here, All Might began to preach more of his personal beliefs on his view of justice and what it's purpose was. "The world needs to have something to cling onto, something that will give them hope for a bright future and a sense of security from the forces of evil. I've been that hope, the symbol of peace that everyone looks up to. I plan to have Midoriya take up the mantle when he inherits One for All from me, but with your powers and your heart, you have the potential to be just as great of a symbol."

All Might knew, however, that he couldn't simply disregard the chance of reuniting with his family, "At least until we find a way to get you back home, I believe that becoming a hero would be the right path for you."

His words touched Shigeo Kageyama to his core and made him truly consider All Might and Izuku's suggestion. Even though it was hard for him to find a sense of justice or dig deep to find the passion for becoming a hero like Izuku, Shigeo still liked the idea of working to help people. And if becoming a hero allowed him to do that, if his psychic powers made it easier for him to do this, then the young esper saw no reason to object.

"Ok. If you think its what's best for me, then I'll enroll at U.A. and become a hero."

The symbol of peace beamed with joy. With Kageyama now fully on-board, things would work out a lot more smoothly, and the esper would really get the chance to prove himself.

"Excellent! Don't worry about the enrollment process: I'll handle all of that for you. Just focus on your training and being in tip-top shape!"

This was it: at last, Izuku Midoriya and Shigeo Kageyama would walk down the path to U.A. High and towards the light of being a hero. What that path would bring them and the troubles they would encounter along that way, only time could tell.

* * *

**Boom! Shigeo Kageyama is officially planning on becoming a hero. Wait until next chapter to see how things play out!**


	6. Exam Day

**Boom! With this chapter rolling around, all of you readers will get to see the progress of these two pure-hearted teenagers and in what ways Shigeo is adjusting to this new world! Feast your eyes on Chapter 6 of 100 Percent Hero!**

* * *

The afternoon sunlight created a bright glare on the multiple windows of U.A. Academy. The hustle and bustle of school was plentiful here, and many students were getting to their classes, casually conversing with one another, engaging in training exercises, and absorbing the sunlight outside.

Going completely unnoticed among the masses of people was a frail man with sunken cheeks wearing a dress shirt and regular khakis. As this man walked by, many of the students there assumed this was either a teacher or staff worker going about their daily job. They had no way of knowing that this man was the number one hero, All Might.

After Shigeo decided to enroll at U.A. alongside Izuku, Toshinori knew it was solely his responsibility to handle the application process and paperwork needed to register. However, that in-and-of-itself was no easy task: since Shigeo wasn't from this world, there were absolutely no public records or any indication he technically existed. Under normal circumstances, this would have been a major problem, but since All Might had already been hired as a teacher here, he could easily work things out with the principal. He had already called him yesterday to let him know of his arrival, and he'd trusted the pair of trainees to continue their routine without him. But this was not the part that gave him the most anxiety. How he would go about explaining Shigeo's situation, and how he would get the principal to even believe him, he was not yet sure, and it's what he was thinking about right now.

The symbol of peace made it to the principal's office. Sitting at his desk was Principal Nezu, although he was not what one would expect. This principal was not a man at all: he was an animal with the features of several different species. He had the head of a mouse with circular black eyes, large, dog-like paws with pink pads and a thin tail similar to a feline. Nezu was a very rare case of an animal obtaining a quirk, and his quirk gave him enhanced intelligence that superseded most humans. It was why he could function in regular society and why he was appointed as the principal of this school.

The principal's lips reached upwards, and his charcoal eyes brightened at the arrival of his newest teacher. "Ah, All Might!" Principal Nezu was one of the few people who was aware of All Might's true form and knew how vital it was it be kept a secret. "Good afternoon. I just made a stupendous pot of tea. Would you care to have some?"

"Gladly." The principal poured him a cup of tea, and upon drinking it, All Might felt a strikingly sweet taste that tickled his taste buds. "Wow, I didn't know your tea could be so flavorful."

"Well, it's something I pride myself on." Principal Nezu took a sip of his tea and smiled. "Now tell me, All Might, what is it that I can help you with today?" The principal rested his tea on the countertop and placed his elbows on his lap. "When I got your call, I could detect the urgency in your voice."

"Indeed." All Might put his cup of tea on the table and straightened his back. "I would like to talk to you about a boy I met about a week ago."

"And?"

"Well, I was thinking of having him apply to U.A., and I wanted to just run it by you to see if you'd approve of his application."

The anthropomorphic animal let out a short laugh. "Is that all? I hardly view it as anything problematic! Just let him send his application, and if he qualifies, he will be a student, simple as that."

All Might sighed and scratched the back of his head. The easy part of this day was done. Now came the hard part. His eyes drifted away to a painting on the wall, and he could feel his chest tighten with anxiety. No, it wasn't as simple as that. "See..."

Principal Nezu's smile disappeared when he saw this sudden change of expression. He inclined his chair forward, resting his elbows on the table and clasping his hands together in front of his mouth. He could tell immediately there was something more All Might had to tell him. "What is it?"

The number one hero faltered for a moment. His eyes left the painting and went to his lap. The hero's fingers curled up as the stress of his decision was mounting. Did he dare reveal the truth about Shigeo Kageyama and where he came from? He had no idea what repercussions this might bring, how it might impact Shigeo's treatment at U.A., or whether Principal Nezu would even believe in it. Was it worth it?

His fingers clenched themselves into fists, and his eyes went back to the principal. The symbol of peace decided to come out with it. It was better of Nezu had an idea of what the situation was so he wouldn't be left with a large surprise that led to a rash action. Perhaps he could even find some clues as to getting Shigeo back home. "Principal Nezu, what I'm going to tell you will be hard to believe, but please bear with me."

"I'm listening." The anthropomorphic animal stilled his breathing from the tense expectation of the news about to come.

"You see, the teenager I want to enlist here, his name is Shigeo Kageyama, and he's..." The hero's green eyes dimmed to a dark verdant solemness, "not from this world."

The principal let out a small yelp. The lines on his face twisted into shock, and his calm disposition had been broken. "What?" Nezu had no idea what All Might was going on about. Not from this world? What did that mean?

The hero's body stiffened, and he clasped his hands together in the space between his legs. "This child comes from another world completely different from ours. In his world, quirks don't exist, although some individuals have psychic abilities. Shigeo Kageyama is one of those individuals. He has the ability to utilize psychic energy to his will, granting him telekinesis, flight and many other abilities that wouldn't usually be seen in a quirk user with a similar power."

"You're saying he has more than one power?" The first reaction to this revelation was shock, but then this shock morphed into hesitancy. The claims he were making were quite serious and brought about a plethora of confusion and questions. After all, the very implication that someone had more than one power was basically impossible, and the implication that there was a traveler from another dimension was utterly unimaginable to most.

"Yes. I've seen it. Not only that, but he has a phenomenal amount of energy. The sheer quantity of the energy allowed him to tear through reality itself, and it sent him to our world. Unfortunately, he can't return, and for now, it appears he's going to be stuck here."

"All Might, these are quite the dramatic claims. Are you absolutely sure this is what happened to this Shigeo Kageyama? Are you sure he isn't a misplaced child who got lost and just has an amazing quirk?"

"I'm positive. If you try and look him up online or search his public records, you'll find nothing. Besides, I've seen his powers. I've seen what he can do. There is no way this child can be a regular quirk user. If you really want me to give you hard evidence, I can bring Shigeo here and have his foot x-rayed to determine he has two joints in his pinky toe." The symbol of peace leaned his body forward, creating a slight air of gravity around him and causing Nezu to shift uneasily in his seat.

"Principal Nezu, this is not Kageyama's home."

The head of the school felt his throat clamp up with the bright green irises burning into his body. All Might was absolutely positive in his assertions about this child. Principal Nezu reclined in his chair, and held his fingers to his chin while his mind raced with the information disclosed to him. This was the second secret the symbol of peace had revealed. When he'd first learned about All Might and gained his trust, he was quite shocked to learn the truth about All Might's quirk. But this? This was on a whole new level of crazy.

Toshinori slammed his fist down on the desk, although he only did this as a display of his determination, and the punch had no power at all. "I understand your doubts, but Nezu, you have to believe me!"

"I do." The principal's face was stern, and the lofty, relaxed quirk-user from less than a minute ago had disappeared. The hero's bright green irises brimming with seriousness slightly dimmed when Nezu met his gaze with an equally serious look in his eyes. Whether or not he found it possible, Nezu chose to believe the symbol of peace's claims. After all, All Might had trusted Nezu with the truth about his quirk and about One for All, a secret that, if leaked, could ruin the hero's reputation and could very well damage society itself, all in the hopes of finding someone to pass his quirk onto. The least the principal could do in return for this trust was to give him his own trust in All Might's claims, no matter how outlandish they seemed.

"Imagining a traveler from another dimension is quite the dramatic tale. I never pondered the possibility of there even being other worlds or universes beyond ours." The principal's eyes traveled upward to look at the ceiling. His heart slightly stirred, and the anthropomorphic animal's mouth formed a frown when he thought of the disparity and loneliness this child must have been experiencing.

"I can only imagine what this child must be going through."

Toshinori brought his head down, his bright green irises dimming to a dark jade color. He was all-too-familiar with the sadness in Shigeo's heart, the torment and misery he displayed before when he clutched onto the hero and unloaded all of his anguish. "He's been having a difficult time, but he's still holding in there." The number one hero lifted his head back up and reached out his hand a few inches. "Right now, I'm having him stay with me. I wanted to bring him to U.A. High so he could be close-by and because he has amazing potential in becoming a hero.

The number one hero flicked his finger out. "I wanted to tell you about him so you would be aware of Shigeo's origins and powers and be prepared to take any measures necessary to conceal this secret."

Principal Nezu nodded his head. "That makes sense."

"I also had hopes you could assist in trying to find a way back home for Shigeo, maybe try and find a quirk that could travel through dimensions. I know the chances are slim, but any help would be appreciated."

Principal Nezu rubbed his chin, pondering All Might's request for assistance. Undertaking such a challenge would be quite the hurdle. "As you say, finding a quirk that can travel through dimensions seems impossible, but I will be sure to do whatever I can."

The symbol of peace closed his eyes and bowed his head in respect. "Thank you." Toshinori wanted to address one more thing before he went. "Also, if it isn't too much trouble, I would prefer the other staff or anyone else not be informed about this. I don't want to put that kind of pressure on Shigeo or have him be treated differently than the other students."

"Yes, isolating him and making him feel different will not do him any good, especially with the loss of his family. Very well, All Might. I will accommodate Shigeo and work out his application for you."

"I'm eternally grateful for your assistance, Principal Nezu."

"Yes well, it certainly sounds like quite the situation you have on your hands. Whatever else you may need of me, give me a call, and I'll be glad to help."

Toshinori Yagi took an internal sigh of relief. At least now, the young esper would have a guaranteed chance of attending U.A. High.

* * *

After the number one hero finished his business with Principal Nezu, he ventured back to the park where Shigeo and Izuku were still training and looked over them while they finished their exercises. Once they were done for the day, Toshinori and Shigeo returned to the apartment, and were both sitting on the couch while the hero was telling him what he'd done at U.A. High.

"So you told the principal of the school the truth about me?"

"Yes. I thought it was best he knows about you. I hope that doesn't upset you."

"No, I don't really mind." He trusted All Might's decision making, and also felt that having the head of the school on his side would be a big help for his future endeavors at this high school. After all, the hero had taken responsibility for so many other things for him: it was only thanks to him that he had a roof over his head, three meals a day, a comfortable bed, a workout program, and most of all, emotional support. It was only fair for Shigeo to place his trust in the number one hero.

In spite of this support and his attempts to create a functioning life for the esper, there was still a pressing matter that needed to be addressed. After learning he would be attending U.A. High, Shigeo realized something else important that he'd been overlooking before, and now that he was alone with the hero, saw it as the appropriate time to mention it. "Hey All Might, am I just going to keep exercising for the next ten months? Do you think I should be enrolled in another school before I go to U.A. High?"

The symbol of peace nearly fell off of the couch. How could he have missed something so vital? Shigeo was a middle schooler, after all! He needed education! And he needed to have some sort of life outside of his training! He couldn't just be a shut-in with no proper sociality for the next ten months. If he was, then he'd likely be unable to properly interact with his peers or establish meaningful connections due to the lack of interactions for such an extended period of time. Alas, there were still several complications that would arise if he tried to enroll him in an actual school. So he'd have to go for an alternative. "Unfortunately, we can't run the risk of drawing any attention to you and your lack of public records. So what options are left?" All Might began working through the alternatives in his mind. "The best idea I have is if you're enrolled in an online school. That way, you get the education you need without drawing any attention to yourself from the authorities or the public."

"Oh." The esper's reaction to this was very silent and stifled. The lackluster irises continued to be darkened with his lack of emotion, and the corners of lips curved ever-so-slightly downward. The frail hero saw this slight change in expression, causing him to feel a sense of uneasiness and regret. "Is that alright for you?"

"Yea yea, it's okay." Shigeo lifted his lips up to form a small smile. The young esper understood the hurdles preventing him from returning to a normal life. It was lamentable and reminded him of how foreign he was to this world, but as long as he had All Might and Izuku alongside him to support him and work through the challenges ahead, that was enough company for him. "I don't want to add any unnecessary stress to your life. You are the number one hero, after all, and you're training two teenagers on top of that."

The hero's green irises remained fixed and concerned for a few more moments, but the worry in his eyes eventually disappeared. He appreciated the sentiment Shigeo harbored and how little he had objected throughout this entire ordeal, even though he had lost so much. To the hero, it reflected the esper's selfless nature and his willingness to put others before himself. Be that as it may, Shigeo Kageyama was still only a middle schooler. He deserved to have some semblance of a normal life, go out in the world and enjoy regular hobbies, mingle with peers, share laughs and memories with friends. It wasn't fair to completely take those things away from him.

Suddenly, a light bulb lit up in Toshinori's mind. He paced to his desk, and in the cabinet, grabbed two decks of playing cards. "Shigeo, how about we play a card game called 5 crowns?" The symbol of peace grinned as he took the cards out from the boxes and began shuffling them into one giant pile. "I picked it up while I was in the United States."

"I've never heard of it."

The hero's grin widened even further, and his verdant irises were now sparkling with excitement and joy. "Well, I'm here to teach you." Shigeo shifted his body so that he facing All Might in a diagonal direction. The esper and the hero smiled while All Might began to explain the rules of the game. Although the young child was unable to interact with others of his age for now, he still had Toshinori at his side to aid him and build memories with, and the symbol of peace was resolved to make those memories last for the rest of his life.

* * *

And so time passed. Shigeo Kageyama and Izuku Midoriya continued whole-heartedly with their training, pushing themselves to their very limits and working through the pain of the exercises. For every muscle fiber broken, it would regrow even stronger, and through that process, the two teenagers were able to see progress. About two more weeks into training, Shigeo managed to overcome his limited stamina and was now able to run long distances without passing out. Now, even though Shigeo was constantly training his physical body, he basically never used his psychic powers. All Might saw no importance in honing the young esper's abilities, feeling there was no need if he was able to fight a villain as strong as All for One.

For the esper, his internal suffering and agony continued to persist for the next few weeks after his arrival, always reminding him of what he had lost and what he might never see again. In spite of this, the constant praise and support given by All Might and Izuku mitigated this pain enough for the child to begin enjoying himself again.

In an effort to let Shigeo live a normal life, Toshinori decided to engage in some more fun activities after his training. The game of cards was his first attempt, although he later shifted to more exciting activities that required them to go out into the city, such as bowling, eating out, miniature golf, or watching movies. In some of those instances, All Might had offered Izuku to tag along. Although the quirkless teenager was completely baffled at the idea he would be doing such casual activities with the number one hero, that did not stop him at all from accepting his request, and boy-o-boy, were those moments memorable. Izuku also took the initiative that All Might had taken and gone to the mall several times with Shigeo, where the two of them would browse the stores, get some ice cream, admire the scenery, and even pet the local cats the mall had raised in order to attract customers and to keep away pests. However, as Shigeo adjusted to this new world and gradually accepted his new life, Izuku and Toshinori both noticed how deadpan his expressions typically were. During most of their time together, Shigeo would usually remain emotionless, only showing the smallest of smiles and only nominal happiness. Neither of them understood why this was, nor were they expecting such a dull side of Shigeo Kageyama. Despite this, they accepted this side of him and came to view it as who he really was.

While Shigeo was adjusting to his place in this new world, Izuku remained diligent in his training and in his schoolwork. The fiery willpower inside continued to fuel him, pushing him to excel and causing him to constantly think of different ways he could improve his strength and adjust his schedule. This caused him to work on his schedule even in class, occasionally resulting in the teacher calling him out for distractedness.

While Shigeo didn't have a class or a teacher to lecture him, he found the online school All Might had enrolled him in to be rather tough. There were several times in which he had to ask All Might for assistance, and even with his aid, he found the subjects to be rather confusing. During his online classes, one of the subjects was history, where he learned more about the history of Japan and of quirks, when quirks first developed, the categories of quirks, their development time, and much more. It was quite shocking for Shigeo to see how openly this society used their powers and how many people had them.

Meanwhile, Toshinori had continued doing research on the inter-dimensional portal quirks with which he was seeking to send Shigeo back home, but none of his searches bore fruit. Likewise, Principal Nezu had done his share of investigation, but came up short on finding any solutions to sending the teenage esper to his dimension.

Several months had passed: sprinting through a park with budding leaves and growing trees, the two teenagers were carrying large safes on their shoulders and sprinting on the pavement while All Might zoomed in front of them on an electric scooter. Both teenagers were panting heavily, feeling the weight of the safes pressing down on their shoulders. For one of them, the pressure of the weight and the strain on his muscles was beginning to be too much for him: Izuku's vision began warped and blurred. The trees began to change into shades of dark purple and light pink. It seemed as though time was beginning to slow around him.

The number one hero stopped his electric scooter when he heard the thud of flesh hitting the ground. He turned around to find Izuku had collapsed on the ground, while Shigeo was barely holding on, with one knee on the ground while he tried to keep the safe from falling off his shoulders. All Might's eyes scrunched, mildly disappointed to see Izuku laying on the ground defeated.

"Hey, what're you two doing? Pick yourself up and keep moving! You two have only got three months until the exam! Are you gonna tell me that you're just giving up now after all of the tireless hours you've put into your dream?"

Shigeo chose to remain silent and looked on with concern at the way Izuku was lying on the ground. After all the time he'd gotten to know him, Shigeo knew that Izuku wasn't one to just give up. The quirkless teenager was mustering all the strength he had, crawling at a glacier pace toward the safe.

The esper put his safe on the ground and lifted Izuku onto his feet. The quirkless teenager winced, the act of merely moving his muscles being enough to send pain shooting through his body.

"The plan I created for you was specifically tailored to your body and included rest breaks for recovery, meant to be swift but manageable. It doesn't make sense that you're in this much pain. Unless..." The hero's light green irises expanded when this truth clicked in his mind, "You've been ignoring those breaks and working your body more than intended. If you do that, then your body's gonna break, not strengthen!"

"All Might's right, Midoriya." The esper felt internal pain knowing that his training comrade was pushing himself too hard. Shigeo had also been fighting on, but he hadn't gone out of his way like Izuku had and trained on his own during the rest periods. "You can't inherit One for All if your body is damaged."

The quirkless teenager's eyes remained glued to the ground. Although neither of them could see his face, Shigeo could feel Midoriya's body shaking, and All Might could also see the faint vibrations around his body.

"No," muttered Midoriya, the resolve in his voice despite the pain in his body shocking both Shigeo and Toshinori, "If I don't do this, if I don't go beyond my limits, then all the other applicants will beat me in the exam. My goal isn't just to get into U.A.: my goal is to excel, to become the best hero I can be! Like you, All Might!"

The symbol of peace and the phenomenal esper were startled at his words, and their shock only increased when they saw the fierce and fiery resolve illuminating the teenager's leafy-green eyes. "I want to become the number one hero in the world." Midoriya's eyes sharpened, and he clenched his fists with strong force.

"So I'll keep on going beyond, until I CAN REACH THAT GOAL!"

Baffling. Shigeo's lips parted slightly. His normally expressionless eyes were now gleaming with a burning sense of awe and admiration. That look in his eyes, that willpower to keep on fighting, to become a hero, they all served to amaze the esper and remind him of the unbelievable resolve Izuku Midoriya had. Once again, he was being shown what being a hero meant to him. In a way, the esper almost envied him for that. Even now, after all these months of training and the time coming closer until the entrance exam, Shigeo could not reach deep within and find even a twentieth of the passion for being a hero Midoriya was displaying now.

Like Shigeo, Toshinori was impressed by the quirkless fanboy's willpower, reminiscing to their first encounter and the tears shed by Izuku upon being told he would be able to become a true hero. The symbol of peace allowed the power of One for All to course through him, returning him to his muscular state. All Might let out a short laugh and placed his hand on the quirkless teenager's shoulder.

"It pleases me to see that your passion is still burning as hot as ever! That will continue to get you far on your path to becoming a hero. At the same time, it would be a real shame to see all the work you've put in go to waste, so no more ignoring your rest periods and pushing yourself far beyond what you can handle."

"He's right, Midoriya." Mob gently placed his hand on his training partner's back. "We'll keep working, but let's not work to our deaths."

This light joke elicited soft laughs from Midoriya and a short but loud bark from Toshinori. Midoriya lifted his head up to see All Might's face, then he turned his head to the left to see Shigeo smiling at him with compassion swirling in his eyes. Midoriya couldn't help but catch this infectious happiness, and his lips curved upwards with bliss. Words could never express how thankful he was for having these two in his life.

* * *

The time had come at last. After all this effort and dedication, the U.A. exam was about to begin today. Even now, when the day of the exam had begun and all the training Midoriya had gone through was about to pay off, he didn't stop for one second to take a break. Right now, the next inheritor of One for All was continuing to pick trash off of the beach.

Continuing to work right beside him was Shigeo. Knowing the day of reckoning had finally come, and assuming Midoriya would go to the beach by himself early in the morning, he woke himself up very early as well, wrote a letter to All Might telling him where he would be, and used his psychic powers to fly to the beach. Thankfully, due to it being so early in the morning, nobody noticed the middle schooler flying through the air, and he also made sure to keep a low profile by flying high in the sky.

"Fight on! Fight on! Fight on!" The two teenagers were carrying a large fridge over their heads with their shirts off. The blood vessels on their muscles were bulging to gargantuan sizes: the veins in their eyes were crimson red. Their entire bodies felt stiff and ready to crumble under the weight of the broken refrigerator. It was like the weight of reality that once attempted to crush Midoriya's dreams of becoming a hero. But like that weight, the young hero would overcome the weight looming over him and lift if off of his shoulders. And with Shigeo helping him, pushing with him every step of the way like he always had since they first began training together, they would surmount this crushing burden together.

"Come on, Kageyama!" yelled Midoriya, "We just need to get it up these steps, and we'll be done!"

"I know!" When the middle schoolers reached the base of the steps, they took very cautious baby steps. Being at the bottom end, the esper felt the weight of the fridge shift towards him, so he planted his feet on the ground and focused entirely on stability. After taking ten of these baby steps, Izuku and Shigeo made it to the top of the stairs.

"FIGHT... OOONNN!" With the passion of the Body Improvement Club's mantra and the determination in both teenagers serving as the fuel for their strength, they threw the fridge into a large pile with all of their might.

"GGGRRRAAAHHHH!" The two teenagers still felt the immense, overflowing rush of fortitude and tenacity coursing through them, and they let out booming, primeval screams. Even the nonemotional psychic who bottled up his emotions couldn't help but scream. However, for the esper, the sudden burst of emotions came in the form of more than a scream. A bright, multicolored aura surrounding Shigeo, expanding around him until it was only a few inches from touching Midoriya. Several of the pieces of garbage began to float in the air like they had done before when Shigeo first came to this dimension.

"Whoa, Kageyama!" The quirkless fanboy's impassioned war cry and fiery will quickly faded when he saw how the esper's emotions were beginning to get out of control and fuel his powers. Once Shigeo's senses returned to him and he realized he had unintentionally activated his psychic powers through his intense passion, he immediately powered down and let the objects floating in the air fall gently back to the ground. Shigeo felt an instant sense of regret for letting himself get carried away like that, and he bowed his head down in shame.

"Sorry, Midoriya."

The middle schooler's lips curved down when they saw how quickly Shigeo felt ashamed of himself. "Come on, Kageyama. It's no big deal. Just try to be a little more cautious is all."

Mob's eyes glanced back at Izuku, whose expression was one of glee and support. This caused the esper to straighten his body back up and return the gesture of his smile. However, the bowl-haired middle schooler quickly saw the quirkless teenager's eyes droop, and before he knew it, his body fell flat on the ground. In fact, the psychic wasn't feeling particularly rejuvenated himself, and decided to follow his training partner's lead.

Both middle schoolers laid on their backs, panting heavily while they looked up at the dark blue sky. The dark sky had come to be a familiar sight for them: seeing it so many times, every day when they would come to this beach, work themselves ragged, and lay exhausted on the ground during their rest breaks. Many times, it seemed as though they wouldn't get up, their bodies would sink into the sand and forever remain buried underneath the beach because merely moving was too burdensome. Yet both of them trekked on, persevering through the worst of it all. While part of this was due to the determination they had, Midoriya's passion to become a hero, and Kageyama's passion to strengthen his body, there was something else equally important.

Whenever one of them would falter during their training, fall to the ground with exhaustion, or let themselves give in to the building pain, the other would be at their side, giving them the words and inspiration they needed to get back up and continue fighting on. To know that the other always had their back, knew the torment of the training, and was with them every step of the way, it was an even greater source of strength for them. It had actually allowed them to enjoy this overwhelming training, the memories of the pair serving as grand sources of fondness to look back upon.

"Man, we've sure been through a lot together," said Midoriya, breaking the almost mystical silence between them.

The esper nodded. "It's hard to believe we've been doing this for ten months." Shigeo's mind shifted back to the memories of his arrival. Back then, he was alone, in a totally random world with no one to rely on, destined to live in solitude and sorrow. It also opened up the scar of his lost family, something that would never heal until the day he was reunited with them. The features on his face were becoming bleaker, and his black eyes were turning an even darker charcoal. He was about to reminisce of his master, his family, his friends, but before he knew it, he felt an arm snake around his shoulder and under his neck.

Shigeo's attention moved away from his memories, and he turned his head down to see Izuku's attention faced towards him. The inheritor of One for All could instantly recognize Shigeo's sadness and longing for his family. For a few seconds, everything remained silent. After this prolonged reticence, the green-eyed teenager calmly spoke. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Before I met you, before I met All Might, I was just a loser who nobody looked twice at because I had no quirk. But then you two came along: All Might trusted me with the power of One for All, and you've stuck by me ever since, breaking your body with me, and pushing forward. After training with you for a while, I realized something: you're not just my training partner. You're my friend. My only one, in fact. So thank you."

The cloudiness in his eyes was removed by the bright, sparkling joy of light. That joy was reflected in his smile, and the corners of his mouth rose very high. The esper's body acted on its own, and he placed his arm around Izuku's shoulder as well. "You too, Midoriya. I'm glad I was able to make a friend like you."

The bonds of empathy and friendship had taken these two very far, and with everything they'd done together so far, that bond was a force to be reckoned with. Their attention was brought to the sound of footsteps approaching them. The two middle schoolers craned their heads back, and weren't surprised to see an inverted All Might staring at them.

The symbol of peace's smile was warm, pleased to see the two of them having this nice heart-to-heart moment. While this moment was pleasant, his attention was also drawn to the crystal clear waters and the white sand that spread far across the beach. The hero's green eyes widened, and his mouth was gaping open from the shock of such pristine beauty. "Oh my god. You two went beyond the area I assigned and cleaned the entire beach! Look at it! All I can see is the bright sand! Not a single piece of trash in sight! This is far beyond what I ever expected of you!" The number one hero transformed into his stronger form and took in the scenery with his typical smile. Both of the teenagers responded with their own smile and attempted to get back up, although they were having trouble in doing so, forcing All Might to step in and help them up.

"We did it, All Might," muttered the dog-tired Izuku, his eyes still looking weary from exhaustion. "Does this mean I'm finally ready to inherit One for All?"

"Indeed you are. I knew you had the stuff, but this is something else!" The symbol of peace didn't want to leave Shigeo out of his well-earned praise. "And you too, Kageyama. You once told me that without your powers, you were simply a loser with no other strengths." All Might pulled out his self-phone and showed the two of them the pictures he'd taken ten months ago. "This is both of you back when you started this training, back when you had no confidence. But look at you now! Look at how much progress you've made!"

Shigeo looked at the picture of him, frightened and weak, then looked down at his body. The frail, flabby skin that had once adorned his body was now replaced with rock-hard, well-defined muscles. His stomach was now marked with six ab lines, and on every part of his body, the muscle lines were very noticeable, bulging with the strengthened muscle fibers. Both teenagers found this to be quite the monumental leap, but Shigeo, in particular, felt like he was in a state of euphoria.

For so long, he'd wanted to find another way to stand out in the world. He'd desperately searched for any signs, any hints of potential he had outside of his psychic powers, but had unfortunately found none. Now that the time had come for the exam and their goal of training and cleaning the beach had been completed, Shigeo could truly grasp the concept of how much he had changed and how much he had improved in these months.

While the esper was having this sense of joy filling him, All Might continued speaking. "Young Midoriya, there is still quite the journey ahead of you in your quest to use the full power of One for All," the hero spread his arms out to show him the large pile of garbage and what he had accomplished, "But now that I've seen what you can accomplish, I'm confident you'll be able to do it."

The quirkless teenager's lips formed a shaky smile, and he looked at his hand with a look bordering on disbelief. He was finally ready. After all this time, the number one hero was finally telling him that he was ready to inherit his quirk and start his quest to become the next symbol of peace. His life-long dream was about to begin.

While both teenagers were feeling a rising sense of joy and amazement by what they had done, the source of that joy was not to be confused as the same. For Midoriya, his strengthened body was a sign that he was worthy enough to become a hero, but for Kageyama, his strengthened body was a sign that he now had worth beyond his psychic powers, that if he was ever in a situation where he didn't have his powers, he now had something else to rely upon, to nurture. He had formed a new sense of identity, and to the esper, this meant just as much as being a hero meant to Midoriya.

Regardless of the differences for their joy, the emotions churning within them were strong nevertheless, and these emotions were beginning to leak out in the form of tears.

"I finally did it," muttered Shigeo while tears stained his face, "I've finally gotten a strong body." The words were so soft that neither Izuku nor Toshinori could hear him.

"All Might," Izuku murmured, "Am I really worthy of this?" The child was equally touched as the esper as tears welled in his eyes and slid down his face. "All your dedication and commitment, All Might. All of your assistance and friendship, Kageyama." The quirkless child's smile widened, and he looked up at All Might with his elated green eyes. "How did I ever get so lucky?"

The esper looked up from the ground and was surprised to see tears running down his friend's face as well. The fanboy turned to his right and displayed equal surprise at his friend's waterworks. Upon realizing how much this meant for both of them, the irony and the similarity between both of them caused the two teenagers to smile widely.

"You aren't the only one who's lucky, Midoriya." The powerful esper's attention was drawn to All Might, and his eyes only shined brighter. "I don't know what I did to have a person like you helping me through all of this, All Might, or a friend like you, Midoriya."

Hearty chuckles came out of the hero's mouth. Neither of them could see that luck didn't have anything to do with what they had accomplished. Toshinori clasped the shoulders of the two teenagers. "It was both of you who put in the hard work to get you where you are now, not me. Never forget that. Now..." The symbol of peace changed his attention to Midoriya, for he was the one who was doing this all in the hopes of obtaining One for All. "Here is your reward for your perseverance."

The hero plucked a hair off of his larger spiked hair, perplexing the teenagers. "I once heard this saying: there's a difference between being lucky and deserving. One is an accident, the other a reward. Never confuse them."

The quirkless teenager drew a short breath, and the psychic teenager slightly widened his eyes. "Take this advice to heart, young man. One for All is something you've earned with your undying willpower and effort." Izuku Midoriya's green irises shined with amazement, and drops of tears were ready to fall down his cheeks. But the teenager resolved himself to stay strong and refused to let the tears flow once again. He clenched his fists, and grabbed the future All Might was giving to him. Once Midoriya took the strand of hair, Mob was the first to ask the obvious question.

"What is he supposed to do with it?"

"Eat it!"

Both teenager's lips tightened into a straight line, and their eyes became completely blank. "Eat it?!" the shocked Midoriya exclaimed. The symbol of peace awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, knowing how odd this would be.

"You see, One for All is encoded in my DNA, meaning you have to ingest my DNA in order to obtain my quirk."

"This isn't exactly what I had in mind when I said I'd inherit One for All from you!"

"Stop being a baby and eat the hair! We don't have a lot of time!" The quirkless teenager, or almost formerly quirkless teenager, grimaced at the thought, but he shook his head and psyched himself up. The clock was ticking, and Midoriya couldn't wimp out now. Izuku raised the hair over his mouth, and dropped it in. The silky hair felt odd as he traveled down his throat, and he gagged as it entered the throat and continued its path down the body. Midoriya's entire body shivered, and he waved his hands around in disgust.

Once he got over the nauseating sensation, he expected to feel some sort of drastic change occur instantaneously, but he looked down at his hands, feeling nothing out of the ordinary. "That's weird. I don't feel like my body underwent some sort of change."

The symbol of peace laughed and held his arms out, amused by Midoriya's statement. "Well, of course it isn't instantaneous. You body has to process the hair first and integrate it into your central nervous system." Toshinori looked at his wrist to see what time it was, and the clock read 6:15. "It should take effect in about two or three hours or so."

"Ugghhhh..." The quirkless teenager's stomach growled. "I haven't eaten breakfast yet, and I still need to get back home to take a shower."

"You've got enough time, Midoriya," said Shigeo.

The number one hero gazed up at the sky while he prepared to word his next piece of caution. "While you have honed your body to withstand One for All, you did it at a very fast rate, so make sure that you don't make any rash moves." The green-eyed teenager took in a slight gasp, not liking what this implied. "Even more problematic is the fact that you haven't even tried out your quirk. We don't have time to go into specifics, but listen to my words." Both teenagers tuned their ears and waited in earnest for All Might's advice. "You must prepare yourself before using One for All, so before you use it, clench your butt-cheeks, and from the bottom of your soul, yell, "smash!""

The two teenagers were slightly off-put by these instructions for using the quirk, but did not question the hero's advice. "From the bottom of my soul. Got it. Now I gotta get running!" The quirkless fanboy sprinted through the sand the speeded up the stairs. "See you in a few hours, Kageyama!"

The esper waved his friend off before he disappeared from his sight. Now that they were alone, All Might could direct his attention towards the esper. "Are you feeling prepared for this? I trust that your psychic powers haven't dulled."

"No, I've still got the hang of it." The psychic's power shrouded around him, and with his telekinesis, he lifted several pieces of the trash on the cement into the air, before gently placing them back down. The symbol of peace was happy with what he saw. Looks like he didn't need to train with his powers after all.

"Excellent! Now let's go back home so you can get ready for the exam. There are still a few details I need to tell you before you leave. We can discuss them while we're driving in the truck I brought.

"Got it." The two of them began a quickened pace to the truck. In only a few hours, Shigeo Kageyama and Izuku Midoriya would begin the exam that would define their futures.

* * *

It was 8:40 in the morning. U.A. High School was full of students, although the influx of applicants made the school even busier and livelier than usual. Standing at the entrance of the school, Shigeo and Izuku had just arrived and were sprinting to arrive to the exam. It had taken some time for them to get ready with all of their belongings. Both of them were wearing school uniforms: All Might had purchased a school uniform for Shigeo the day before the exam to make sure he'd have something nice to wear.

The two teenagers were panting, sweat beads falling down their faces because of the distance they had to run. "Alright, we made it just in time."

"Uh-huh." The two reduced their running speed to a regular walking pace. As the two teenagers walked through the entrance, the green-haired student felt his heart throbbing. He was tightly gripping the straps of his backpack, and his lips were trembling. He was finally here. U.A. was standing right in front of him.

Shigeo, on the other hand, was as expressionless and neutral as ever. For him, this exam didn't really bring about any fear or amazement. Unlike Izuku, Shigeo didn't have the drive to become a hero, nor did he have a really good grasp on the true meaning of justice. If this exam involved using his powers, then he should be able to pass this without problem. However...

"Man, I got so caught up in making it here, I didn't even try to test out my quirk."

"Don't worry about it too much." The esper attempted to give his friend a sense of comfort to put his mind at ease. "I'm sure it'll come to you as you go along." Shigeo looked down at his hand, his lips curving nominally downward. "I hope that the same goes for me. I haven't really used my powers at all for these ten months. I'm feeling kinda rusty."

"So you're actually here, Deku." Izuku recognized the deep resentment and gruffness of the voice behind him. The two friends rotated their bodies and saw the blonde-haired teenager with a yellow scarf around his neck and wearing a school uniform like them.

The esper hadn't a clue who this young teenager was and whispered into his friend's ear. "Who is that?"

"It's Bakugo, the classmate I told you about before." Upon hearing this, Mob felt a tick in him. So this was the bully who went out of his way to mock Izuku for not having powers and who was convinced he was better than everyone else thanks to his abilities. The esper's brows furrowed slightly, and his eyes lightly lingered with resentment.

Bakugo noticed the slight irritation in Shigeo's eyes, and met that irritation with an even greater and more hostile glance. "And what the hell are you looking at, bowl cut?"

The teenage esper's rage quickly faded: unlike Bakugo, it wasn't in his nature to hold onto anger, and his face returned to a mostly neutral expression.

"Nothing, sorry."

Bakugo glared for one more second, and then scoffed before he resumed his lonely walk. "Don't either of you two losers get in my way." These were his last words before he left the two of them alone.

While the two friends were looking at Bakugo, their ears picked up on the chatter of two other teenagers who recognized Bakugo.

"Hey, I know that kid. He's the one who fought off the sludge villain ten months ago. I heard his name is Bakugo, right?"

"Yea, he's got an insanely powerful quirk."

"Hold on." The sludge villain? Ten months ago? The powerful psychic remembered Izuku and All Might talking about a sludge villain when he first arrived in this world. From what he'd heard, All Might had already taken care of that sludge villain and kept him locked up within a bottle. He also recalled how Midoriya had saved Bakugo from a monster attacking him. Could... could this sludge villain have been the monster that attacked him? But that didn't make sense! All Might had already captured the sludge villain beforehand, so how could it have escaped? Wait...

Izuku Midoriya saw the way his friend's face began to twist in shock, his face becoming as pale as a ghost and his stomach tying itself into knots. He came to his friend's side and put his hand on his back. "Kageyama, are you alright?"

The psychic did not respond to his friend's question. His eyes were fixated on the ground, and he felt his heart began to slow to a standstill. "Midoriya, did I..." The esper attempted to formulate all the possibilities of how the sludge creature could have escaped, and one large possibility came to mind: somehow, All Might had lost the bottle when he unleashed the psychic blast of energy. All Might wasn't one to so carelessly let a villain escape from his grasp, and with his strength, it didn't seem possible that the villain could have gotten out of his confinement. And from what All Might told him, he had leaped into action to save Izuku from colliding with the wall. With the speeds he was going, it seemed like a strong possibility the bottle could have flown out of his pocket. That was the only reasonable conclusion he could reach. Mob's face stared up at Izuku, and the nerves in the green-haired teenager's body were jittered when he saw the conflicting and pained emotions in his friend's face. "Did I set that sludge villain free when I unleashed my psychic powers?"

* * *

_"Ok, your ten minute break has begun!" The first day of training was proving to be harrowing and bone-breaking for the two teenagers. After performing burdensome exercises such as running with tires around their arms and carrying large appliances, Shigeo and Izuku felt they had just taken showers with their clothes on. When they heard All Might announce this break, they instantly fell to the ground in exhaustion. The symbol of peace could see how much work needed to be done for these two. _

_After about twenty seconds of lying on the ground, the esper got himself off the ground, albeit with light difficulty, and wiped the sweat off of his forehead. "Hey Izuku, I'm gonna go get some water bottles All Might brought. I'll bring you one." _

_The quirkless fanboy, pushing himself onto his feet, gave Mob a thumbs up and a small smile. "Thanks." The young esper walked off and momentarily disappeared from their line of sight. Now that Shigeo was out of hearing distance, the number one hero approached his successor to tell him something he'd been meaning to bring up with Izuku. _

_"Young Midoriya," All Might spoke with a whispery voice, "I wanted to tell you not to mention the sludge villain that attacked both of you and that blonde-haired child two days ago."_

_"Huh?" The green-eyed middle schooler gazed at the hero with his eyebrows furrowed. "Why?"_

_"I didn't tell him that the sludge villain had escaped when he unleashed his psychic energy blast and was responsible for taking your schoolmate hostage. If he finds out, he'll feel even more guilt and self-loathing over his actions, and I don't want to put a bigger burden on him than he already has."_

_Izuku quickly realized where All Might was coming from. He'd seen how remorseful and ashamed Shigeo had been when he apologized for his actions. Even though he hadn't done it intentionally, the esper still felt great sorrow over his psychic outburst, and he could only imagine how much worse he would feel if he found out he was responsible for inadvertently releasing the sludge villain and allowing it to wreak more havoc. The quirkless boy hardened his green eyes and nodded. _

_"Understood. I won't breathe a word."_

* * *

Midoriya remembered that conversation he'd had with All Might all those months ago, and never breathed a word about the situation to Shigeo again. But now that the esper had begun to put the pieces together, he realized this secret could no longer be kept under wraps. If he lied, Shigeo could simply look up the story online and confirm it himself, and it would only serve to create more distrust against Izuku than the distrust already created between them. So with a shaky and solemn voice, the green-haired teenager muttered the answer Shigeo was waiting to hear.

"Yes."

The psychic middle schooler felt his body run cold. How many times had this happened? How many times had his psychic powers caused an accident which led to destruction and ruined lives? Too many that the teenager would not like to remember.

"Great," muttered Mob, "Great to know I was responsible for letting that villain go and nearly getting someone killed in the process."

The formerly quirkless teenager understood why All Might wanted this kept under wraps, and he gazed at his saddened friend with equally sad eyes. Shigeo shouldn't be putting such guilt and pressure on himself. It wasn't fair to shame himself for things he simply couldn't control.

"What's the matter? Is the exam too nerve-racking for you?"

From behind the two teenagers, a young girl with warm brown eyes, a perpetual blush on her cheeks, and bobbed hair was observing this fellow middle schooler appearing to be in some kind of state of anxiety and decided to see what was going on. Once Mob realized that this girl was talking to him, and comprehending the way others would perceive the scene playing out, the middle schooler did his best to hide his guilt.

He straightened his posture and gave the girl a false smile. "No, it's nothing serious. Just a little nerves like you said."

"Try not to stress yourself too much." The young girl closed her eyes and beamed at the two friends. While Mob remained rather neutral at the sight of this new girl, Midoriya's eyes were as wide as saucers. He felt his heartbeat rapidly increase, and the heat began rushing to his cheeks. He'd never had a girl come up and talk to him before! This was such a new and rather terrifying experience for the green-haired middle schooler, which was why when she addressed Midoriya next, his response wasn't very impressive.

"Are you feeling a bit jittery for the exam too?"

For a second, all the middle schooler could do was incoherently stutter until his brain caught up enough to give an actual response. "Yea... a little."

The female middle schooler let out a soft and warm laugh. "Guess we're all in the same boat then. Anyway, I'll see you two inside! Bye!"

Mob was the only one of the two who wasn't shocked enough to stay silent. "See you there." She waved her hand at Shigeo and Izuku before continuing her walk into the school. As she walked away, Midoriya's entire body remained frozen by what had just transpired, momentarily superseding the previous sadness that Mob was just feeling less than thirty seconds ago.

Once the girl had entered the building, the green-haired middle schooler felt a sense of pride and happiness fill his heart. "I talked to a girl," muttered Izuku.

Even though Shigeo had just bent to the ground in shame less than a minute ago, the esper couldn't help but smile at the nervousness and pride Izuku was feeling when talking to a girl for the first time. It brought him back to the times when he was just as nervous to converse with girls whenever they addressed him. How much had changed since then.

"That nervousness will fade in a little while."

Midoriya was brought back to his senses by his friend's voice, and when he looked back at his friend, his lips were pursed in a neutral line, although slight guilt still lingered in his gaze. The green-haired teenager instantaneously brought his focus back to the previous matter and put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Kageyama, stop beating yourself up over what happened before. That was almost a year ago, and besides, nobody got hurt. You didn't do it on purpose."

The esper's eyes met his friend's eyes, and this managed to remove some of the clouds of grief fogging his expression. After about two seconds of maintaining this gaze, Mob lightly exhaled. "Maybe you've got a point," the esper said half-heartedly, "Let's go in then."

The green-eyed middle schooler maintained his grip on the esper's shoulder for a few more seconds as they resumed walking, although eventually slid his hand down and back to his side. Hopefully, this revelation wouldn't significantly affect his performance in the exam. He couldn't afford to make any large mistakes for something of this caliber.

* * *

The air was tingling with anticipation and excitement. All of the student applicants had already entered the main auditorium where the exam orientation was taking place, and they were all whispering with one another, wondering how the orientation would go and what kind of challenges they would face during the exam. Shigeo and Izuku were sitting together, and as luck would have it, Bakugo was seated right beside Izuku, creating a tense awkwardness for the three applicants.

Without warning, the lights of the auditorium flickered to life, all shining down at the center stage, where someone was waiting to give his introduction to the applicants. The man was very tall and slim, with long blond hair that spiked upward in a huge tuft. He wore a pair of orange-tinted shaes, and he looked at all of the students with a large and welcoming smile.

"Hey, all you U.A. candidates!" The man's voice echoed throughout the large auditorium, further highlighting his energetic and dramatic nature, "Thanks for giving your attention to this school's d.j., Present Mic! Now let me hear you shout!"

The d.j. cupped his hand to his ear and waited for the applicants to shout back, but the nervousness and gravity of the exam prevented any of the students from speaking out. Present Mic seemed to realize the solemnity in the room and acknowledged their quietness. "Keeping it mellow, huh? That's fair. I guess it's better to get straight to the point and tell you how this practical exam is gonna go down!"

While everyone was remaining silent and neutral to Present Mic's booming voice, one green-haired applicant was feeling completely stunned by the man he was seeing on the stage. His grassy irises were gleaming with excitement, and his hands were clasped over his mouth.

"I don't believe it! It's Present Mic, the voice hero! I tune in to his radio show every day of the week, and now I'm getting to hear his voice in-person."

While Shigeo remained unfazed by his friend's geeky attitude, Bakugo's eyebrows furrowed and his arms were crossed. "Shut up, Deku. I can't hear what he's saying."

Present Mic continued. "As you all read on your applications, all of you pumped-up boys and girls out there will be duking it out in ten-minute bot battles in super hip urban settings!" Upon hearing this, Shigeo's eyes nominally widened, and he leaned his body closer to the speaker: truth be told, he hadn't even looked at the application. All Might had taken care of all of the paperwork for him, so that meant he had to pay even more attention now. "Now after I drop the mic, all of you will be going to your specified battle centers." A large monitor on the stage showed a visual graph of the eight different centers the examinees would be going to, listed by descending letters.

Katsuki, Shigeo, and Izuku all picked up the cards they had been given upon entering the auditorium to see what center they would be going to. The blond-haired teenager stole a glance at Izuku's card and saw where his battle center would be. "I get it. They looked at our applications and split us up based on our schools. That way, nobody can work with their friends."

Once Izuku saw Bakugo's card, he realized that his fellow examinee was right. "Yea. Even though our examinee numbers are right next to each other, we're assigned different battle centers."

Bakugo stared daggers at Midoriya, causing the teenager to shift away. "Don't glue your eyes to my card."

The green-haired teenager adhered to the explosive middle schooler's request and glanced at his friend's card. "Where are you going to be taking your exam, Kageyama?"

"I'll be in Battle Center C. Guess we won't be taking the exam together after all."

The blond-haired middle schooler squinted his eyes and lightly tightened the grip on his card. "And I was really looking forward to grinding you to a pulp in the same battle center."

"Ok folks, let's check out your targets!" The screen changed images to show multiple buildings crammed into a small area just like an urban city, and adjacent to the buildings, three silhouettes of machines appeared, each with different numbers. "There are gonna be three types of robots you'll encounter during your exam: each robot has a different number of points, and your total score will be based on the number of robots you destroyed combined with the type of robots you destroyed.

"Your goal is to shred apart these robots with your quirk, but I'm warning you: you're still being tested as a hero, so attacking the other applicants to increase your chances is a big no-no!"

"Excuse me! I have a question!"

At last, the silence within the crowd was broken by a young middle schooler with glasses and a somewhat bulky build. This middle schooler stood up from his chair and raised his hand to get Present Mic's attention. The d.j. eagerly addressed the middle schooler. "Hit me!" One of the stage lights shined on the middle schooler, and the audience saw he had a book in his hand with all of the images of the robots, with an additional silhouette not seen on the screen. This did not make sense to the middle schooler, and he made his discontent well-known.

"On the print-out, there are four machines that have been categorized, not three like on the monitor." The student's tone became more domineering, and his words rang with a cutting aggravation. "With all due respect, if this misstep resulted from the carelessness of the U.A. faculty, it is quite shameful. All of us are exemplary students, and I believe we deserve the best quality a prestigious school like U.A. has to offer." The student's next action was even more surprising than the last action: he turned around and pointed to Izuku. "And you, the boy with the unkempt green hair."

The middle schooler took a second to realize this person was addressing him.

"Me?"

This student furrowed his eyebrows and gave Midoriya an irritated gaze. "I can hear you muttering this entire time. It's distracting. If this exam isn't serious enough for you, then don't bother staying."

The green-haired teenager clasped his mouth with his hands and looked to the ground in shame while some of the people nearby snickered at the humiliation being dealt by the spectacled middle schooler. "Sorry," muttered Izuku under his breath. The esper sitting beside him felt troubled by how his enthusiasm was being called out, and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder to try and ease him like he had done outside the U.A. exam building.

Present Mic saw the rising tension and the way the other child was being called out and attempted to defuse the situation. "Now now, let's take it easy, examinee number 7111." The d.j. kept his pleasant expression, actually giving the standing middle schooler a thumbs up. "Good catch there. Let me explain the final robot." The silhouette of the fourth robot appeared on the screen at the bottom left section of the monitor. "The fourth robot is worth zero points. It's just there to try to throw off your game. One of these robots is in every battle center, and it's best if you just steer clear of it. Even if you destroy it, there's really no point to doing it, so I recommend you keep your focus on the robots topping the charts."

Although the middle schooler seemed to be a disrespectful and inconsiderate individual, he quickly proved this wrong when he bowed in respect to Present Mic. "Thank you very much. Please continue with the orientation." With that, the student sat back in his seat, and the light shining on him faded out.

"Well, that's everything I have for you applicants today! Now let me say farewell with a little present to show this school's motto. As General Napoleon once laid down, "A true hero is one who overcomes life's misfortunes." Now are you ready to go beyond?" Suddenly, the monitor changed images to show the words "Plus Ultra" while Present Mic raised his hands in the air. "Let's hear a plus ultra!"

Young Midoriya's entire body began to shake with excitement and happiness at where he was and the exam he was about to partake in. His verdant irises were sparkling with light, and his mouth formed a shaky smile. "Good luck! Now get out there and show this school what you're made of."

The students gradually began to stand and make their way towards the exit. Bakugo stood up and gave one last resentful stare before huffing off and walking with the crowd.

"Sorry you got called out like that," said Shigeo, "It wasn't right of him to target you like that."

"I'm fine. Besides, I've got way more important things to think about." The green-haired fanboy stood up from his chair. "Come on, let's get to our designated sections." The esper nodded, and the two friends walked in the opposite direction of Bakugo, waiting for the crowd to thin until they could enter the crowd, where they then followed the rest of the applicants into the hallway.

Once in the hallway, Shigeo and Izuku continued walking, going with the flow of the crowd. The crowd quickly began to splinter, as each of the applicants were going to their designated battle centers indicated by signs hanging from the ceiling.

"Midoriya, look." The bowl-haired middle schooler directed his friend's attention to the sign with the direction of Battle Center B. "There's where you'll be taking your test." Shigeo's finger shifted to the other sign leading a small portion of the students to Battle Center C.

"Well, I guess this is where we'll part ways for now."

"Yep." The two comrades exchanged affectionate glances and equally affectionate smiles, although Shigeo's lips were barely curved in comparison to Izuku. From this point on, they'd have to be doing things alone for the first time in ten months. Before they would leave, Shigeo wanted to give some final assurance and hope for his friend, knowing how uncertain he was for this exam and how much passing meant for him. "Midoriya, the next time I see you, you're gonna be a student at U.A. High. I know you'll be."

The inheritor of One for All's smile only widened, and the compassion for his friend surged once again in his heart. "Thanks. And don't you hold back either. Show them what you can do with your psychic powers."

"I'll try." With one final smile, the two teenagers turned their backs to each other and walked through the corridors leading to their battle centers. Less than an hour before the exam would properly begin.

* * *

At each of the battle centers, the applicants were all huddled around the entrance blocked by large, dark brown steel doors, hiding the dangers and the robots that were waiting for them on the other side.

In Battle Center C, Shigeo Kageyama stood, wearing a plain white t-shirt, black shorts, and charcoal running shoes. The powerful esper's showed only the slightest hints of expression as he prepared himself for what was about to come. "This'll be easy for you, Mob. You just have to use your powers and crush the robots. It's like exorcising evil spirits. It'll be no problem." The middle schooler clenched his fists and looked up at the steel doors with a more hardened face. "All Might's counting on me to pass this test, and so is Midoriya, so no pulling punches!"

As the bowl-haired psychic stood at the front gate, some of the other applicants stared at him with mocking grins on their faces. "I saw that kid at the front. It looked like he was about to piss his pants."

"I know, right? And look at his stupid haircut, his bored face. There's no way this kid'll be any sort of a challenge during the exam." While these examinees derided the esper for the face-value information, they would soon come to see how utterly wrong their predictions were, as well as the devastating power this child possessed.

"Attention, examinees." The students heard the voice of a staff member calling out to them from the top of the gate, carrying a megaphone in their hand to ensure their voice was reaching everyone. "The exam will begin in five seconds."

The examinees bent their knees and readied themselves for a full-on sprint, but soon found themselves directing their attention at the bowl-haired boy, whose body was emanating a rainbow aura, his hair standing up slightly.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1, go!" The doors to the battle center burst open, and with that, Shigeo Kageyama's exam had begun.

* * *

**Shigeo finally did it! He got a strong body! You finally got to see those tender moments with Izuku and Shigeo, and now you're going to see just how things work out for the two teenagers in the exam, so stay tuned for Chapter 7!**


	7. Final Results

**The U.A. Practical Exam has begun! Now you'll get to see how Shigeo does in the practical exam and just what exactly he can do with his psychic powers. So devour Chapter 7 of 100 Percent Hero!**

* * *

The doors to the battle center burst open, and with that, Shigeo Kageyama's exam had begun. The esper used his psychic abilities to propel himself at amazing speeds, creating a large gust of wind that momentarily threw the other contestants off balance. They were dumbfounded by the power this seemingly regular applicant possessed, and it took them about a second to start their sprint into the arena. Mob's feet were about an inch off of the ground, staying afloat as the esper lifted himself up off the ground.

"Now where to look..."

Mob didn't even need to ask: at the first street intersection, one of the robots worth one point appeared with its weapons primed for attack. Instead of legs, this machine was equipped with a large wheel to move around. Its arms were equipped with large machine guns, and its forearms were protected with large shields that had the number one on them to make it easy to recognize it's point value. With a forward palm thrust, the esper severed the head of the machine and sent it flying through the air. The machine remained motionless for a moment, then, with a slow thud, fell to the ground.

"That's one point." The powerful psychic continued to trek through the streets, waiting for more of the machines to arrive. After sprinting through two different intersections, he was greeted with the sight of two other robots, one worth two and the other worth three. The machine worth two points was more animalistic, walking with four legs, a weaponized tail, and a serpentine head. The machine worth three points looked like a turtle: instead of a shell, there were two mounted cannons. It's two front legs were sharp claws ready to slice whoever entered its field of vision.

The three-point robot fired multiple shells at the esper, but the shells were effortlessly stopped by Mob's telekinesis. The two-point robot lunged for the psychic in an attempt to catch him off guard, but Shigeo was too quick, too powerful. In a split-second, the examinee sent half of the shells at the two-point robot, and the other half was sent to the three-point machine. The shells exploded in a brilliant orange flash, destroying the central processing units of the machines and rendering them inoperable.

"Now that's six points." In less than five seconds, the esper had already taken out three of the obstacles, while most of the other applicants had barely made it to the remains of the first robot destroyed. Now, the examinees who had dared mocked Shigeo for his plain looks and seemingly fearful disposition saw a glimpse of the destructive power this psychic possessed, and were desperately hoping the esper would leave them enough robots for them to destroy.

While the applicants diligently fought in the battle centers, the teachers of U.A. High were watching how the practical exam was going from their own private monitoring room.

The principal observed all of the students with a small smile on his face. "None of the applicants are aware of the number of robots there are, their locations, or how many remain. With the limited time frame and large setting, they must meticulously search the city for villains to hunt for every target they can find." On the monitors, several applicants were shown either running through the streets, observing the situation from higher ground, or in the process of destroying villains.

"While some utilize high speed to take down their targets, others use advanced surveillance to spot their targets and determine the optimal place to strike. At the same time, many other factors must be taken into account, such as power, confidence, combat ability, and experience. The ones who manage to combine all of these tactics will be the ones who enter this school and rack up the highest scores."

One of the other teachers, a black-haired female with a revealing outfit, was interested by what she was seeing. "Many of the applicants show a lot of potential."

"Indeed. There's one applicant in particular that's showing astounding skills." One of the judges wore a black mask with the image of a skull adorning the front. "Do you notice the one with telekinesis?"

"Ah yes. His abilities are quite remarkable." The principal had recognized who this young applicant was once he saw his abilities up-close. This was him, Shigeo Kageyama. Nezu's smile faded, and he rested his finger on his lips. All Might wasn't kidding when he said this child's abilities were impressive. In about six minutes, he had already racked up more than eighty points. It seemed he was able to use his telekinesis to increase his speed and float himself high into the air. With his telekinesis, enhanced speed, and flight, he could easily take care of the villains while he scouted the area from up high and located the villains, all while his face remained blank and emotionless. To Shigeo, this all seemed like child's play. He was quite a force to be reckoned with.

Nezu turned his gaze to the most powerful teacher in the room, the symbol of peace. All Might noticed Nezu looking at him and met his gaze. Instead of speaking, the principal widened his eyes, as if to silently display the amazement he had towards the esper. All Might got the message the principal was trying to send and gave a small nod. Nezu was right: Shigeo was doing unbelievably, far better than he'd ever thought. Toshinori was supremely confident that Shigeo would pass. Izuku, on the other hand, he was beginning to doubt.

The symbol of peace grimaced. Unfortunately, young Midoriya hadn't gotten any points yet, and the clock was ticking. If he wanted to pass, he would have to do something incredibly heroic.

"Let's see what the applicants do when the largest obstacle comes into place."

* * *

The teenage esper was doing absolutely swimmingly. He'd been afraid that his powers were rusty, but once he started destroying the robots and soaring through the city, he felt like he was getting his groove back. Scouring the city and fighting off multiple villains at once reminded him of the battle he had with Mogami in the mental mindscape, where all of the evil spirits were attacking him, and he had to constantly be on the lookout for whenever they arrived. Only this was a lot easier. In fact, he'd been taking out so many villains that most of other other candidates were barely able to get more than 15 points.

As Shigeo put himself back on the ground and looked around to see where more robots would be, he noticed several people were looking at the remains of the robots he'd destroyed with despondency. He took note of the disappointment in their eyes, their hunched shoulders, and their arched backs.

"No way!"

"I've only found six robots! The rest were already destroyed!"

"There're only a few minutes left of the exam. How am I supposed to get enough points now?"

The esper could hear all of their dejected comments and hopeless faces. Seeing the looks of sadness and fear on their faces reminded him of the constant uneasiness Izuku faced when taking the hero exam. He'd experienced his friend's internal agony over the possibility of failure first-hand and knew how deep those emotions went. His friend had put everything on the line for this exam. It was the only chance for him to become a hero. It was his dream. That must have been how the rest of these applicants felt, knowing this was one of the biggest moments for them to attend this school and become a hero. His outstanding ability of empathy for others was showing itself, allowing him to reach out for those he didn't know well and understand what they must have been feeling.

"They all look so sad and afraid..." Was it really fair for Shigeo to take all of these points? He already had about one hundred and six points based on his math: did he really need anymore? Besides, being a hero probably meant way more for most of these applicants than it did for Shigeo. He'd gotten carried away, so focused on getting enough points that he didn't think about the others in the battle center.

"Target acquired!"

Shigeo looked to his right and saw five robots streaming in from the right, all of them worth more than one point. To his left, there were two one-pointers, a two-pointer and a trio of three-pointer. The powerful psychic saw these machines and yelled out, "Lucky me! I've found some more three-pointers for me to take out!"

The other applicants standing over the remains of Shigeo's destroyed villains heard the mention of three-point robots and immediately sprinted down the street to the esper's location. Mob flew in the direction of the robots to the left, although if anyone had noticed his movements before, they would've realized this was much slower than he was less than a minute ago. Shigeo's first target was the one-point villain: the machine spun its wheel toward the esper with its hands stretched out. When the villain reached Mob, it swung its arm horizontally, but the examinee ducked. It then followed up by using its other arm to swing down at Shigeo. The esper raised his hand up and kept the villain frozen with his psychic powers.

"Come on..." To the untrained eye, it seemed as though the esper was having a difficult time keeping the monster's arm at bay, but it couldn't have been more wrong. In reality, Shigeo was biding his time, waiting for the other applicants to see the opportunity in front of them and strike. If he wanted to, he could have dispatched both armies of robots in less than ten seconds. In two seconds, one of the other applicants leaped up and punched the frozen machine through its chest, destroying the villain for good. Two of the other applicants went for the other robots and used their quirks to utterly decimate the villains.

In the surveillance area, all of the teachers noticed Shigeo's expression upon seeing the other applicants, in addition to his sudden change of fighting style. Thanks to their experience and intuition, all of them were able to pick up on the fact that the esper felt guilt for taking so many points from the other applicants, so he decided to hold back in response. All Might's lips lifted into a small smile, and his heart was filling with pride.

"That's the way, Kageyama!" thought the symbol of peace.

"Quite an interesting applicant, that one is," remarked one of the teachers, "He seems to be able to empathize with the other applicants and held back when he realized how many points he'd already gathered."

Back in the arena, Shigeo looked behind him, and was pleased to see that the other applicants were in the process of destroying the machines on the other side of the street. "Hopefully that'll get them enough points," thought Shigeo, "I'm sure there are still some robots for the others."

Like clockwork, four more machines appeared, snaking their way through the alleys of the urban area and ready to strike their enemies.

"Yes! If they keep coming, I might have a shot!" The esper heard these words of hope from one of the applicants and inwardly smiled. As long as there were enough villains and nothing else interrupted them, the other candidates might still have a chance.

Out of nowhere, the ground began to rumble. The applicants saw huge dust clouds rising up and heard the sound of wires snapping as well as buildings crumbling. The examinees could feel the ground quaking with increased vigor, none of them understanding why this was. Their questions were quickly answered: looming over the middle schoolers was a gargantuan machine, dozens of times larger than the regular robots.

"Is that..."

"That thing's huge!" Unlike the rest of the applicants, the bowl-headed teenager displayed only mild shock at the sight before him. Even when the machine slammed its fist into the ground, the esper didn't blink. While the rest of the applicants were panicking and screaming with terror, the esper remained motionless and expressed almost no fear in the threat facing him. However, he did take note of how panicked the other applicants were: as they ran away, some of the machines that had approached them attempted to attack the applicants.

Realizing they weren't in a state to attack, the esper's aura lit around him, and he sent all of the machines nearby flying into the walls, giving the hero an extra seven points. "This isn't good," muttered Shigeo, although this wasn't in reference to himself, "This'll really mess up the other candidates. Even though there's only a few minutes left, that's still enough time for them to get a few more points. But they can't do that if this giant thing is getting in their way."

The esper's fists tightened, and he began to walk in the direction of the machine, his aura flaring to life.

"I'll have to take care of it myself."

* * *

The monstrous machine continued its rampage of destruction, and as it laid waste to the city, it took note of the human approaching with a bright aura shining around him. The machine's eyes glowed bright red, and its fist prepared to collide with the examinee. But before the fist could reach the applicant, its arm was rendered immobile. The arm was covered in a bright blue light, and the esper's hand was raised just a few meters away from the hulking fist.

"Guess I'll take out the head."

The esper soared up high, approaching the machine's head with his regular bored expression. Then, focusing his energy in his palm, Mob extended his hand and unleashed his psychic power. In a dazzling display of power, Shigeo's telekinetic blast managed to actually sever the head of the zero point robot, sending it crashing into the top of a nearby building. Both machines began to fail, their bodies overheating and exploding from the sudden loss of connectivity with their brains.

As the esper flew in the sky and watched the machine tumble to the ground, he looked back at the other applicants to see how they'd reacted or what they were doing. Although it was hard to tell, it seemed as though they were watching what had just happened, shocked by Shigeo's psychic powers.

But then, once they heard the one minute marker, this brought them back to their senses and reminded them of the points they needed to gather. "At least this'll give them a little bit more time to search for more robots." The esper gently floated back to the ground, disappearing in the large clouds of dust. The examinee settled on remaining shrouded in the dust clouds until the time ran out. It was the least he could do for the remaining applicants.

* * *

As the dust cleared and the applicants had finally stopped their exam, many of them began to make their way towards the ruins of the zero-point robot. All of them were astonished by the level of strength the applicant had by severing its gargantuan head with only a single attack. With that attack, they already knew that this kid was definitely getting into U.A. High. Furthermore, Shigeo was tallying the numbers in his head, and he'd come up with a grand total of one hundred and thirteen points.

When all of the smoke was gone, the bowl-headed psychic stood there with a neutral face, staring at all of the approaching applicants and taking note of their shocked expressions directed towards him.

"Dude, how did you do that?" one of the examinees remarked.

"I just used my psychic powers to propel myself upward and force its head off," Shigeo replied, his face remaining as dull as usual. Some of the applicants noticed how bored he looked, serving to further fuel their shock and create some minor internal rage at the idea someone was so strong that this was little more than a game to him.

"You're amazing!" shouted another examinee.

"Oh." When it came to praise regarding his psychic powers, Mob never felt flattered by it, feeling it was undeserved or unremarkable complimentary. "Thanks." Now that the practical exam was over, the esper couldn't help but wonder how Izuku had done in his test. With hope, he'd gotten more than two dozen points, although he'd have to meet up with his friend again to be sure.

* * *

After the practical exams were over, all of the students were instructed to change back into their original clothes and go to a large auditorium where all of the applicants would take their written exam.

While all of the students were making their way to the auditorium, Shigeo Kageyama was keeping his eyes peeled for any sign of his friend. He wanted to know how he did on the exam, how many points he'd gotten, ensure that they would both be enrolling together. Sadly, the esper could not find his friend anywhere. What the powerful psychic did not realize was that Midoriya was purposefully trying to avoid his friend. Midoriya didn't want to see his friend's shocked expression and sadness when he found out the green-eyed teenager would very likely not be attending U.A. High. For unlike Shigeo, the fanboy had failed to get a single point during his practical exam due to his inexperience and the severe drawback of his power. However, he had shown his true worth by sacrificing his chance to get more points by eliminating the zero-point robot in order to save the girl he'd met earlier on. Even so, it didn't change the fact that he failed...

Now, while in the practical exam, Shigeo had succeeded while Izuku had failed, the opposite was now the case for the written exam. Thanks to all of his studying and time put into researching quirks and heroes, a lot of the information on the written exam was easy for young Midoriya. For Shigeo, however, he was hopelessly stuck on several of the questions, frantically trying to remember everything he'd learned in the online school he'd attended but having difficulty recalling a great deal of it. By the end of the exam, Shigeo had only barely finished the last question before he was forced to turn it in. The esper sighed: it seemed all the training he did still didn't make up for all of his large deficiencies in other aspects of his life.

Once the written exams were finished, Shigeo continued to search for his friend among the crowd of students. When all of the students filed out and began returning to their homes, Shigeo waited at the entrance of the school for ten minutes, trying to see if he could spot his friend leaving. Alas, there was no such luck.

"Guess that means he already left," muttered Shigeo, "I would've liked to see how he did, but I'll meet up with him soon and ask him myself. In the meantime, I should head back home."

With the exam having come to an end, Mob was left to wander through the city streets. The tangerine sunset shined over the city, taking with it the light many people had clung onto in their hopes of attending U.A. High. While he was walking, Shigeo's thoughts went back to these people. He knew it was part of the exam, that it was fair game for whoever had the power to take out these villains, that it was a competition, and yet the esper still thought he might have taken the way the few points an applicant needed to pass.

"I need to talk to All Might about this," muttered Shigeo, "He might give me the answer I need. That, and..." Shigeo's thoughts lingered back to earlier this morning when he'd learned he was responsible for letting the sludge villain go. That was another thing to add to Mob's guilt list. Despite all the assurance Izuku gave him and the fact that it was unintentional, that still didn't take away the undeniable truth that he'd let that villain go. So why didn't All Might tell him about it ten months ago? He needed to know.

After about a thirty minute walk, the esper entered the apartment and took the elevator up to his apartment floor. He opened the door, but found the apartment to be empty. "All Might must still be doing his hero work."

The powerful esper decided to unwind while he waited for All Might to return, so he turned on the television and tuned into a cop action movie, decompressing with the intense action sequences. After about an hour of enjoying the film, the door flung open and in came All Might, wearing a suit and a smile on his face. Upon seeing the suit, Shigeo's eyebrow lifted, and he turned off the television.

"Good evening, Kageyama. How're you feeling after the exam?" The symbol of peace attempted to start out with the basic questions, although the esper's face remained as dull as usual.

"More or less."

The hero's smile faded, and he walked up to the couch. "What do you mean?"

The esper heaved his chest and leaned his body further back into the sofa, shifting his eyes so that they were looking at the ceiling just above the television. The frightened looks and sorrowful eyes of the applicants who felt they were going to fail were still fresh in his mind. "During the practical exam, I was racking up dozens upon dozens of points. I thought I was doing what I needed to do, but then I saw how scared the other applicants were. They were afraid they wouldn't get enough points to pass because I had destroyed too many of the villains." The esper weakly let his hands droop down to his sides. "How many of those applicants had dreams of becoming heroes that were just as large as Midoriya's? I might have succeeded, but how many people might have failed because of me?"

All Might's lips were pursed into silence. After seeing Shigeo's reaction and sudden change of heart midway through the exam, he'd come to expect this conversation. Like the other teachers, he couldn't help but be surprised by the esper's consideration of others. He'd underestimated the child's capacity for empathy, and the hero needed to let Mob know how proud he was of his selflessness.

"Kageyama, listen." The esper's eyes went to All Might as he seated himself in the sofa chair adjacent to the couch. "Becoming a hero isn't something everyone can do, and for U.A. High, the standards are ridiculously high. A lot of these applicants might try their best, but the sad truth is that for 99% of them, they do not have sufficient power to make it to this high school. That's not something you changed during this exam. There will always be people superior to others in some regards, as you know all-too-well, and this is an area where you are superior to others." Shigeo's facial features began to loosen, digesting the hero's words, when the hero extended his body forward and reached both of his hands out.

"Normally, what I'm about to tell you is something you'd find out when you get your results next week, but I'm going to tell you it now." The esper waited and nodded. "I was hired as a teacher at U.A. High."

Mob's eyes widened, and his lips parted from shock. Toshinori continued. "As a teacher, I oversaw all of the performances of the students. I saw what you did: I, along with the rest of the teachers, were able to see through your change of tactics after you noticed the saddened looks of the other applicants. We also knew you destroyed the giant robot in order to give the other applicants time to search for more villains. The very fact that you showed consideration for the other applicants and stopped focusing on gathering points demonstrated your lack of desire to prove yourself the best and your humility, impressing me and the rest of the teachers. In fact,"

The symbol of peace raised his finger up to the air, preparing to make another large point. "What the applicants didn't realize was that the practical exam was graded on more than the amount of villains you destroyed."

"I don't really get it."

"You see, a panel of judges watches over the exam and rewards extra points based on heroic acts. While you may have gotten one hundred and thirteen points, you were also rewarded thirty nine extra points for your selfless consideration of the other applicants. In total, that gives you one hundred and fifty two points, putting you in the number one spot and nearly double the second place examinee." All Might dramatically raised his finger and pointed it at the esper, causing him to slightly move back. "I've said it once and I'll say it many more times, but you and Midoriya have the hearts of true heroes, and your actions today proved it once again!"

His dull brown eyes sparkled. His lips became shaky, and his body was beginning to fill with happiness. Not because he'd gotten some measly bonus points, but because he was being valued for himself, not for his psychic powers. The bowl-haired teenager remained in this state of pleasure for a few seconds, but composed himself enough to not let his emotions run wild. In fact, All Might's last statement made him aware of the other big thing that he'd been wondering about. "Speaking of Midoriya, how did he do? How many points did he get?"

The symbol of peace let out a few short chuckles, then placed his hands on his lap. "It turns out you weren't the only one who destroyed the zero-point obstacle." The esper's eyebrow furrowed up, and he leaned forward in anticipation. "You see, during the exam, a young girl was trapped under some rubble and was in the path of the large machine. Young Midoriya saw this and instantly stepped in: using One for All, he jumped up and destroyed the machine before it could trample over the girl."

Toshinori's verdant eyes intensified, and his expression became stern. "He did this in spite of the fact that he had accrued no points at all." The esper gasped. Izuku didn't get a single point?

The symbol of peace saw Shigeo's shocked expression and prepared to alleviate that shock. "But what he did not and still does not know is that his heroic actions gave him enough bonus points to make it into the top ten!"

"Really?" The lump in his throat growing from the fear of Izuku not making it to U.A. High dissolved, and he took a large sigh of relief. "But don't call Midoriya to tell him yet. Frankly, you shouldn't even know about this yet."

"Oh." It seemed somewhat dishonest and rather sad to keep Izuku in the dark like this for the entire week. Mob could only imagine how internally devastated his friend must have felt, thinking that he'd failed the hero exam and wouldn't be joining Shigeo at U.A. High. Now that he learned about Izuku getting no points, now the child esper pieced together that his friend could have been deliberately avoiding him so he wouldn't have to tell him the bad news. But still, there were rules, and Shigeo didn't want to break them and risk getting Izuku in trouble. "Ok."

"Besides, the wait will only make the surprise all-the-more impactful." The hero got up from his seat and went into the kitchen to grab himself a snack. "Is there anything else that's on your mind you want to talk about?"

This was the chance. With the other stuff out of the way, Shigeo could address All Might's deceit about the sludge villain and why he kept such vital information away from him. He opened his mouth and prepared to talk about it, but the words were caught at his throat. The esper tried to push the words out of his throat and through his mouth, but something was keeping the words trapped in the throat.

It wasn't the right time. After the hero had yet again praised Shigeo for his noble nature and heroic actions and had tried to put his mind at ease over how many points he'd taken during the exam, to throw guilt and shame at Toshinori seemed disrespectful. It wasn't fair after all the support he'd given him and continued to give him. While he still wanted to talk about the issue, he would find a more relaxed and appropriate time for the two of them to converse. So the hero buried the words down and switched to a more trivial topic. "Are Midoriya and I still going to be training this week?"

"For now, until Izuku gets his test results, I'd say it's wise to give him some space." The hero grabbed a bag of Chex Mix and sat back down on the sofa chair. "But if you want, we can go back to the beach and continue exercising. After all, there are still some areas farther out that haven't been cleaned, and this time, you can use your psychic powers to get rid of the trash."

"Sounds good to me."

"Now then..." The symbol of peace grabbed the remote lying on the table and turned the television back on. "Why don't you and I find something good to watch on tv?"

The esper moved his lips upward and shortly nodded his head. The two superpowered humans relaxed in their seats and allowed themselves to indulge in whatever televised program they came across. These was the last three weeks of freedom Shigeo Kageyama would have before officially embarking on his journey of becoming a hero and resuming an actual school life.

* * *

Living within a very fancy house adorned with multiple stained-blue windows, a gorgeous front yard with multiple small trees at the front and many larger trees in the backyard, the hot-headed and extremely arrogant Katsuki Bakugo was sitting in his room, playing Call of Duty on his Xbox to pass the time.

A week had passed since he'd taken the practical exam. As he already knew before he even took the exam, he performed far beyond what anyone was expecting. From his calculations, he'd managed to wrack up a ridiculously high score of seventy seven points, taking down more then thirty robots. Nobody he saw managed to get rid of more then seven villains. The explosive teenager was supremely confident he would be ranked first in the practical exam. He also did pretty well on the written exam, although whether or not he got first in that was much more irrelevant to him.

He was also confident that nerd Deku wouldn't even make it to the top 1,000 in the practical exam. Hell, anything more than zero points would be a freaking godsend for him. Deku was a freaking idiot for even considering applying to U.A. High, and this exam had been a reality check for him. When Bakugo saw him at the exam, he'd been as pathetically nervous and cowardly as ever.

Although less important, he still couldn't help but wonder who the hell that bowl-haired kid was or why he was with Deku. Given his stupid haircut and dull expression, the blonde-haired teenager was rather sure he wouldn't make it very far in the exam either. Anyone who bothered to actually be near Deku intentionally was just as big a nerd as that quirkless nobody.

"Hey Katsuki!" The explosive middle schooler heard his loud and annoying mom's voice yelling out for him. He paused his game and slowly made his way downstairs, where he saw his mother staring at him with an envelope in his hand. Just one look at the woman, and a person could immediately tell they were related. The mother and son had the same blonde hair, the same facial structure, and the same fiery red eyes that would make people shudder in fear. The mother of Bakugo, Mitsuki Bakugo, knew her son was eagerly waiting to confirm his first-place position, and loosened her grip on the envelope as Bakugo snatched it from her hand.

"Aren't you gonna share your victory with your family?" Mitsuki said, her hands placed at her sides as she stared at her son with growing annoyance at his impertinent attitude.

"No way! I wanna have the glory all to myself! I'll be in my room, per usual!" The explosive middle schooler sprinted up to his room, leaving behind his very irritated mother in the living room.

"I swear, we spoiled that boy rotten."

Katsuki slammed the door behind him and eagerly smiled, staring at the envelope in his hands. "They should've just saved the wait and let everybody see the obvious winner." The teenager paced to his desk and sat down. He then tore open the envelope like there was no tomorrow, but he was surprised to see that instead of a paper, there was a circular disk. "The hell?"

The disk shined some sort of light, creating a holographic screen, and on that holographic screen was All Might. The blonde middle schooler gasped and pushed back into his seat. "All Might? What is he doing there? And why is he wearing a suit?"

"Hello there, young man! You're probably wondering what I am doing here on this screen. Well," The symbol of peace puffed his chest and energetically pointed his thumb at his chest. "I have been hired as a teacher at U.A. High!"

"No... no way!" Bakugo's mouth gaped open. Even he never imagined that the number one hero would work as a teacher at U.A. High.

"As the newest teacher, I'm pleased to announce that not only did you pass the written test, but you did outstanding in the practical exam!"

"Yea, yea!" Bakugo shot up from his seat, his excitement and determination to see his first place position filling him with passionate energy. His prideful and even somewhat wicked smile showed, and he clenched his fingers into fists. "Now show me the scoreboard!"

"However," The teenager's smile faltered, and his eyebrow shot up, "What you nor any of the other candidates realized was that you were scored on more than just regular points. Judges were also observing your behavior and actions, and would give you points based on heroic actions. For you, the judges rewarded no extra points. Regardless, the number of villains you defeated more than made up for that!"

At last, the scoreboard for the practical exam was displayed on the screen, but as soon as Bakugo saw the results, all of his prideful excitement and expectation of seeing his name on the number one spot disappeared on the spot. "I got... second place?"

To the teenager's complete shock, he saw that his name was just below this other applicant, Shigeo Kageyama. When he saw how many villain points he'd gotten, he let out another large gasp. "That guy got a hundred and thirteen points? On top of that," The explosive middle schooler realized that he'd also been rewarded thirty nine extra points, bringing his final score up to one hundred and fifty two points, almost twice as much as Bakugo. "This can't be right."

Sadly for Bakugo, the results were only going to get worse. He looked down at the rest of the leaderboard, and he felt like his head was going to explode: that nerd Deku didn't get a single villain point, but he got SIXTY extra points?

The recording continued, and All Might resumed his speaking after letting the board be shown for a few seconds. "Congratulations, Katsuki Bakugo. You've officially become a student at U.A. High." The image paused on the screen for a few seconds, and then the holographic display faded out. While any normal person would've been ecstatic to know they'd made it into the most rigorous hero school in the country, Katsuki Bakugo was not pleased in the slightest.

"This isn't right." The teenager's entire body was beginning to tremble with rage. The veins in his eyes constricted, his teeth were clenching against each other with frightening vice, and he was quite literally seething with fury. "I should've been number one on the practical exam. My quirk gives me power nobody else can hope to rival. And to make things even worse," All of the muscles in Bakugo's body tightened, as if he was disgusted by what he was about to say, "That loser Deku made it in too. How the hell could he have made it in? What did he do to get those extra sixty points? A powerless loser like him shouldn't have been able to get that high of a score, or any score at all!"

Unable to keep the rage bottled up inside of him, the blond teenager let out a primal and ear-piercing scream. Acting only on fury-guided impulses, Bakugo followed up by slamming his fist down onto the circular recording device, destroying it along with part of his desk.

That forceful venting of his anger allowed him to slightly simmer down, although anyone who didn't know Bakugo would be wise to steer clear of him. The blond teenager could not allow this to stand. It was a direct defiance of everything he'd ever understood about himself and his superiority. "Damn it, Deku! I'm gonna find out just what the fuck you did to pass the exam, and I'm gonna expose you as the weak, spineless loser you are! And I don't know who the hell you are, Shigeo Kageyama," muttered Bakugo, "But when I find you, I'm gonna show you that you don't hold a candle to me, either."

* * *

**Did you like that? You got to see Shigeo empathizing with the other applicants while getting a really high score in the process, and on top of that, you got to see Bakugo's reaction to all of this! For the exam, I thought that there would be multiple different arenas, since there were different "battle centers", and therefore there were different areas with their own battle robots and zero-point robots. Wait until next chapter to see how the first day of school at U.A. High is gonna be for Shigeo and Izuku!**


	8. New Class

Upon revealing to his mother that he'd actually made it into U.A High, she burst like a dam. Her tears sprayed all over the carpet floor, staining her son's shirt as she gripped onto his body as tightly as she possibly could. Against all the odds, her son had actually managed to make it into the top hero school in the nation. It was quite literally a dream come true.

After celebrating Izuku's amazing achievement and enjoying the thrill of his success, the young teenager couldn't be seen without a smile for the rest of the night. The next day, he was completely taken aback when he saw that All Might had contacted him, informing the young fanboy to meet him at Dagobah Park again. As soon as he saw this, he jolted out the door and sprinted as fast as he could to the park.

When young Midoriya reached the park, sure enough, the number one hero was staring out at the beach, alongside Shigeo. Both superpowered humans heard the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps, and turned around to see Izuku standing just a few meters away with tears in his eyes.

"All Might!"

The hero spewed out blood and felt his chest tighten. "You're too loud!"

Sure enough, a couple standing on a peer nearby heard someone mention the symbol of peace, and they lit up with excitement. "Wait, All Might's really here?!"

Toshinori's whole body shuddered, and he frowned at his successor's reckless actions. "You're gonna blow my cover! Say it was a mistake!"

The formerly quirkless teenager got the message and corrected his mistake. "Wait, never mind! My bad! Nothing to see here!"

The couple mumbled in disappointment and went back to gazing at the dazzling sea, while the trio all took sighs of relief.

Shigeo was the first of them to speak, and when he did, his smile was radiant and utterly content. "You did it, Midoriya! You made part of your dream come true, and now we both get to be students at U.A.! Congratulations!"

The green-eyed teenager lightly gasped and met his friend's smile with an equally pleased smile. "I couldn't have done it without all the training we did. And congrats to you too! I can't believe you got in first place with such a high score! You got nearly double Bakugo's score!"

"Yea," The esper's smile slightly shortened, "It wasn't that big a deal."

"Speaking of the training," All Might decided to interject in the tender moment these two friends were sharing, "I didn't tell anyone at U.A. that I've been training either of you." Both smiles on the teenagers' faces returned into a neutral position. The symbol of peace gave his own smile and innocently held his hands out. "I didn't contribute to your score whatsoever. I wasn't one of the judges, and I didn't use my ties at U.A. High. All the points you got were from your own work."

"Wow," When the fanboy found out that All Might was a teacher at U.A., he assumed that the hero had been somewhat responsible for the scores he got, giving him the fear that he didn't truly earn the points he got. But now that he was hearing this wasn't the case, it only made him feel more happy and proud of what he did, and the young teenager bowed down in respect. "Thank you for telling me." However, All Might's statement made the green-eyed teenager remember something else he had been surprised about.

"When I saw you give my scores, I was really surprised to see you'd be teaching at U.A.. It always confused me why you decided to switch cities out of nowhere." Izuku closed his eyes and pointed his finger out as he proudly recited his knowledge about All Might. "After all, your agency is in Minato, Tokyo, and-"

"Ok, little too knowledgeable there," The symbol of peace and the esper were rather off-put by the extensive knowledge Izuku had on All Might. It seemed a bit too... obsessive. The fanboy opened his eyes and felt a sweat bead run down his face.

Toshinori continued speaking. "I was told by the school to keep my new job there a secret until they officially announced it. Even Kageyama didn't know about it until last week. I chose the job in order to find any students there with the potential to become my successor."

The two teenagers parted their lips. They both remembered All Might telling them about his quirk and his hunt for the next wielder of One for All. This news was relatively irrelevant for the bowl-haired esper, but for the formerly quirkless fanboy, it made him feel a new sense of worthlessness. So All Might was originally planning to give One for All to a U.A. student with an actual quirk and bigger potential.

This feeling of worthlessness caused Izuku to speak out about the pressing matter of his performance in the Entrance Exam. "When I used One for All in the exam, it destroyed my body only after jumping and throwing a single punch." Mob grimaced: he'd heard from All Might about his injuries during the entrance exam. It pained him to know that his friend had damaged his body so severely and that he couldn't use his quirk without hurting himself. "How do I stop that and make sure I don't break myself whenever I use One for All?"

"It'll take time, but you will eventually learn to harness the power without mangling your body. Besides, trying to master One for All so quickly is like asking a baby to run a marathon. You have to first learn to walk, and then run before you can even try to go to such lengths."

The fanboy sighed and lowered his head in shame. "I understand. Wait..." The green-haired hero discerned something large, and the esper was starting to get the picture in his mind as well.

"So you knew that Midoriya was gonna get that badly hurt?" exclaimed Shigeo.

"Well..." All Might frowned and rubbed the back of his neck. "We were low on time, and he only got my quirk a few hours before, so there wasn't much I could do, unfortunately." This statement seemed to calm both of the teenagers down, allowing All Might to continue speaking. "The way you are now, you can only use your quirk at full-power or at no-power. But after some training, you'll be able to control your power output to ensure you're using the specific amount of power you want. That way, your body will be able to hold the overflowing energy you have right now." The symbol of peace buffed himself up to his hero form, and with a deeper voice, said, "Then it will be yours to command!"

The symbol of peace had made a rather idiotic move, considering the importance of keeping his cover he'd placed before. The couple who was staring at the ocean overheard the commotion and saw the hero standing alongside two young boys.

"Oh my god, it really is All Might!"

"Let's get an autograph!"

Toshinori inwardly scolded himself for his stupid mistake, and shifted his body to a running stance. "Let's get out of here!"

The symbol of peace began a relatively slow running pace for his standards, but enough for the two teenagers to keep up and run alongside him. While the three of them were running, the symbol of peace continued to lecture the successor of One for All. "The torch I've passed onto you is only a small wisp of the raging inferno of One for All. But in time, that wisp will reach the heats of the raging inferno it's meant to be, and you will be the hero you've always wanted to be!"

The green irises in Izuku's eyes glowed to a bright grassy texture, and the young esper couldn't help but smile at his friend's passionate gaze. It was what he'd come to admire about him, after all. With Shigeo by his side, he'd make sure his friend master One for All and give him whatever help he'd need along the way. It was what a friend was meant to do, after all.

_21%_

* * *

Izuku felt like there were red-hot lasers boring into his skull and melting his brains. Standing next to his fellow blond-haired classmate, Izuku was back at his school. It was the day after he'd gone to talk to All Might at the beach, and today, class had just finished. However, before they had the chance to leave, Izuku and Katsuki were stopped by their teacher. He'd received the news of their successes and wanted to speak to them in-person.

"I just wanted to say how proud you two should be for passing the U.A. exams." Izuku stiffened his body and felt a mild blush creep up on his cheeks, while Bakugo's eyes were icy and his lips were pursed into a frown. "I never thought that this school would have not one, but two students who actually made it to U.A. High." The teacher turned his eyes to look at Midoriya, causing Bakugo to look at him as well, which deepened the explosive teenager's frown. "And to imagine that you're one of them, Midoriya. I have to say, it's a miracle."

Feeling rather awkward with the praise and Bakugo's death stare, the fanboy could only bow his head in respect. "Thank you."

"Ok, that's all I wanted to say. Go on home and enjoy your victories."

The two teenagers did as he said and began to walk toward the door. But before either of them could make it to the door, Midoriya felt a strong hand gripping on his shoulder. He turned his head, and felt his blood run cold when he saw the hateful stare in Bakugo's eyes. "You and me, outside, NOW!"

Seeing that his classmate was in no mood for joking or putting this off, the green-eyed teenager silently agreed and trailed behind Bakugo as they walked out of the school. Once the two of them exited the school, they turned into an alley. Midoriya gulped, and nervously made his way into the secluded area. As soon as both of them were out of sight, Bakugo, unable to contain his rage anymore, grabbed Izuku by the collar and forcefully pushed him against the wall. The fanboy grunted in pain, and panicked when Bakugo grabbed him by the collar and seethed with fury.

"How the fuck did you do it, Deku?" said Bakugo, "How did you cheat your way into U.A. High?!" The explosive teenager shook his classmate's body to further frighten him. "You've completely ruined this for me! I was supposed to be the one who had the glory of being the first student from this stupid school to make it into U.A.!" While he was gripping Izuku's shirt, Bakugo's hateful glare nominally simmered into surprise when he saw his classmate grab his wrist, his hand trembling with his own sense of fury.

"Kacchan, someone I look up to told me that I can become a hero. It's why I applied, and it's the reason I'm going to U.A. High!" The explosive teenager let out a small gasp when he saw Izuku's eyebrows furrow and his expression become more determined. "And no matter what you say, you can't stop me!"

Midoriya threw his classmate's wrist off of his shirt, and not wanting to drag this out any further than needed, walked out of the alleyway, leaving the shocked and angered Bakugo all by himself. The blonde teenager remained frozen in his place for a few seconds, too shocked by the determination in Midoriya's eyes. Then, all of his anger burst out like a boiling kettle, and the teenager yelled, frantically running his hands through his hair. "Damn it, Deku!" Bakugo yelled, talking to himself at the moment, "I'll show you that you don't belong there! Then all of U.A. will know how pathetic you are!"

* * *

The young esper and the symbol of peace were getting everything ready for the first big day at U.A. High. Shigeo had already packed all of his notebooks and school supplies in his new backpack, and he was wearing the typical school uniform of U.A. High for the second time. After so many months of training and home-school lessons, it felt rather bizarre for the esper to come back into school life. In fact, it was extremely nerve-racking for the bowl-haired psychic, imagining how he would react with his other peers.

All Might, despite his status as the number one hero, was somewhat nervous about his first day as a teacher. He'd never had any teaching experience before, and he still felt there were several areas in which he did not know how to lecture this younger generation. Nevertheless, as long as he kept exuding confidence and maintaining his smile, the hero was sure it would all work out in the end.

Both superpowered humans were dressed in their formal attire, carrying everything they needed in their bags, and sharing the mild sense of uneasiness. "Are you ready to hit the road, Kageyama?"

"Uh-huh." The esper didn't mind telling his new teacher what he was feeling. "I'm feeling anxious about the first day at an actual school again."

The symbol of peace let out a short and dry chuckle. "You and me both. Well, all we can do is keep our chins up and hope for the best."

Kageyama curved his lips up slightly and nodded his head in agreement. Whatever was waiting for him at U.A. High, he would embrace it with a positive attitude. Attempting to quell the anxiety, Shigeo and Toshinori straightened themselves and walked out the apartment with a confident stride.

* * *

Equally nervous, but more excited than his two associates, Izuku Midoriya was at the front door of his apartment, tying his shoes while his mother stood beside him and waited to watch her son go. "Is that everything you need? Are you sure you didn't forget to pack anything?"

"Yea mom, I've gone through everything," replied Midoriya, his voice lingering with annoyance at his mother's nagging attitude, "Now I've gotta go, or else I'll be late." The young teenager picked up his backpack and prepared to walk out the door, but before he could, his mother had one final thing to say.

"Izuku."

The teenager internally sighed and looked back at her mother with annoyance, but he was somewhat startled to see his mother's shaky smile and sparkling eyes. He had no way of knowing what a monumental achievement this was not only for himself, but for her mother as well. To her, this was the greatest thing she could've seen happen to her child: fulfilling his dream. And he did it all on his own. The emotional mother stared at her son with misty eyes and a mild blush on her cheeks. "I want you to know that I couldn't be prouder of you."

The formerly quirkless fanboy drew a small gasp, and felt his own blush creeping up on his cheeks. He could see in her eyes that she was in complete bliss. Izuku smiled in response and lightened up his annoyed expression. "Thanks mom. I'll see you this afternoon!"

* * *

Izuku made his way through the city, sprinting to class and hoping that he made it on time. The green-eyed teenager was looking at all of the different doors, trying to find the room where his class would be, Class 1-A. While he was running through the school, he was not expecting to see his friend casually walking through the school.

"Kageyama!" The esper turned his head, and greeted his friend with a smile.

"Hey Midoriya. What class are you headed to?"

"Class 1-A."

"Really?" Mob's expression lit up. "That's my class!"

Izuku's face brightened to match his psychic friend's happiness. "Awesome! Then let's walk in together." Happy to comply, the two teenagers walked side by side, although Shigeo picked up the pace to match Izuku's more hurried walking speed. After about ten seconds of walking together in silence, they finally found the classroom they were looking for.

"There it is!" The two friends stood at the entrance of the door in silence. Both of them had their own mixed emotions about entering this classroom. On one hand, Izuku was panicking at the thought of seeing Bakugo or the other blue-haired applicant, and he couldn't help but feel inferior to the nineteen other students who made it to this school. On the other hand, Shigeo's heart began rapidly beating, still fearful about entering a new classroom environment.

"You ready, Midoriya?" The esper tried to collect himself and give his friend a boost in confidence. Midoriya looked at his friend, and with a sweat bead rolling down his face, gave him a shaky smile. "U.A.'s top students are waiting behind these doors. Let's greet them!"

Putting on their brave faces, the two students opened the doors to meet their new classmates, but upon entering the room, were greeted with a rather unexpected interaction between students.

"What utterly disrespectful behavior! Remove your feet from the desk at once!" The blue-haired student, Tenya Iida, was angrily criticizing the actions of Midoriya's childhood friend, Katsuki Bakugo. The explosive teenager met his classmate's eyes with deadly arrogance and a prideful smile. "This is only the first day of class, and you're already damaging the school's property by lazily resting your feet on top of this desk!"

Bakugo couldn't believe what this guy was grilling him for. "Are you shitting me right now?" Tenya was momentarily caught off-guard by Bakugo's defiant response. "Did you get a stick put up your ass at your old school, or is that just your quirk?"

Despite this teenager's defiant attitude, Tenya composed himself and attempted to be the mature student he strived to be. "Let's start over. My name is Tenya Iida from the Soumei Private Academy." Tenya extended his hand in respect, but Bakugo wasn't the least bit inclined to reciprocate that respect.

"Soumei, is that right? Well if you think that somehow makes you better than me," Bakugo inclined his body forward and squinted his eyes, "Then I'll enjoy ripping you apart in this class."

Tenya was absolutely shocked by this teenager's words escalating to physical confrontation. "Threatening me with physical violence? Are you sure this is the right place for you."

The explosive teenager scoffed and rolled his eyes. The two arguing teenagers stopped their conversation when they noticed the two teenagers standing at the door. Bakugo's eyes opened when he saw the bowl-haired nerd standing with Deku.

"So that loser actually had a decent quirk after all," thought Bakugo, "Well, it's probably jack shit in comparison to mine."

"It's them." All of the class, who was looking at the heated scene between Bakugo and Tenya, focused their attention on the two applicants standing at the doorway. Upon seeing eighteen pairs of eyes looking at them, both students felt the heat rising in their cheeks.

"Oh, hey everyone," Izuku said.

"Good morning to you both." Tenya strutted with his arms moving forward and back like a military march. "My name is Tenya Iida."

The black-haired teenager decided to match Tenya's respectful attitude, and he extended his hand for his classmate to shake. "My name's Shigeo Kageyama."

"WHAT?!" Just as Tenya's fingers were about to clasp Shigeo's hand, everyone in the class felt their hearts do a flip when they heard Bakugo's booming voice and saw him rise out of his chair. "So you're the one who got first place?"

The esper casually shrugged his shoulders. "Yea, I guess." Some of the classmates drew faint breaths, and a few of them even whispered to themselves. From what they'd seen and heard, Shigeo had gotten more than one hundred points on the practical exam. Such a high score was almost unheard of for the practical exam.

Bakugo's blood was boiling like it usually did, although it was beginning to reach molten-hot levels. So not only was Deku going to be in this class with him, but it turned out that the bowl-headed loser with him was the same Shigeo Kageyama who'd gotten almost twice his score? How could such a weak-looking guy like this get an unbelievably high score? The combined fury and hatred against these two was too much for him to contain.

"What the hell did you do?" The explosive teenager got out of his seat and jabbed his finger at Shigeo's chest, causing the esper to back away with fear. "How did you get so many freaking points?"

"Hey hey," The bowl-haired teenager did not want his first day to end up with a physical confrontation. "Just calm down! You don't need to get so worked up about this."

"Kageyama is correct!" Tenya was appalled by the fiery hatred Bakugo was displaying, and in a dramatic fashion, sliced his hand between the two students to separate them. "Your behavior is simply unacceptable for U.A. standards! Now return to your seat!"

The heated teenager shot his burning stare at Tenya, causing the blue-haired student to tense his body up. The explosive teenager wanted to continue questioning Shigeo, find out what his quirk was and how he performed on the exam. At the same time, the small rational side of him knew that if he made a scene right now, he'd more than likely get in trouble with the teachers, and the last thing he wanted was to damage his chances at U.A. High on the first day. So, angrily throwing his hands into the air, Bakugo grunted and marched back to his seat.

For a moment, the atmosphere remained tense, all of the students shaken by Bakugo's random outburst, but the timely appearance of a cheery young girl managed to break that tension. "Hey, I recognize those hairstyles!"

Shigeo and Izuku turned around and saw Ochaco Uraraka smiling at them with a passionate energy. Shigeo returned to his regular expressionless face and very small smile, but upon seeing her, Izuku felt rising temperature in his cheeks. As the green-eyed teenager looked at her while she spoke, one of the first thoughts that came to mind was how nice she looked in that uniform.

"Oh, hey there," Shigeo said, while the redness on Izuku's cheeks was extending to his entire face. The awkwardness Izuku was feeling was so large that he covered his face with his hand and rubbed the back of his neck. Like before, Shigeo saw Izuku's attitude reflect his own nature and general shyness, and he couldn't help but increase the size of his smile.

"Anyway, I should be thanking you for going in and talking to Present Mic."

"Huh?" The energetic girl stopped her enthusiastic body movements and stared at Izuku with curious and confused brown eyes. "How do you know about that?"

Not factoring in the ramifications of this thank you and being socially awkward in general, the green-haired teenager's face became as red as a tomato, and he scrambled to find the right words to explain how he knew about Uraraka's generosity.

"U.A. High isn't a place for you to focus on making friends. If that's all you're here to do, then pack up your stuff and leave."

Shigeo and Izuku heard the voice of someone behind Uraraka, and gasped when they saw a man with long messy hair and an unkempt beard laying on the ground in a sleeping bag. Likewise, Uraraka's voice was silenced, and when she rotated herself to see who spoke, let out a squeaky gasp when seeing this man lying on the floor.

"Welcome to U.A.'s hero course." The man reached his hand from inside the sleeping bag, and undid the zipper on his sleeping bag ever-so-slightly to take a drink from a pouch of juice. All of the students in his sight were baffled and even slightly unnerved by this man's position on the floor and his bizarre appearance. The man got himself off the floor and completely unzipped his sleeping bag, revealing his clothing, which consisted of a black, long-sleeved shirt and matching pants which were tucked into his black boots. Wrapped around his neck was a very long and thick scarf, perplexing the students as to why he would need such a long article of clothing indoors.

"Now listen here. In my class, I expect discipline and focus from all of you, so when I come in, you need to be silent within three seconds, not this wasteful eight-second period you just demonstrated. The time spent in class is precious. A truly rational student would understand this easily." All of the students remained off-put by this man's appearance contrasted with his serious demeanor. If he was here, that meant he must have been some kind of pro-hero, but what kind of hero walked around in a sleeping bag and looked as though he's just gotten out of bed?

The unkempt man walked into the room so that all of the students could see him. "Hello students. My name is Shota Aizawa, and I'll be your homeroom teacher for the year."

Everyone in the classroom internally gasped. This ill-dressed man with shaggy hair was their teacher? What was U.A. High thinking when they hired them, was what many of the students were processing.

"Ok, enough formalities." Aizawa rummaged around his sleeping bag and took out a blue jumpsuit with white patches around the upper arms, legs, and chest, along with red outlines surrounded the white sections. Every student in the class couldn't comprehend what their teacher was asking them to do. "Put these on, and head outside. I expect you to be ready in ten minutes."

The students didn't waste any time and immediately got up from their desks to get their jumpsuits from Mr. Aizawa. "Single-filed line. I'm not going to be handing out these things to a giant pack of animals."

While all of the young teenagers got out of their seats, the young esper observed all of the students, perplexed by each of their unique features. For instance, one of the students had six arms, while another had the head of a black bird, and there was even one girl who was entirely pink, with small antennae sticking out of her hair.

"The mutant quirks I read about really do give a lot of interesting looks," Shigeo thought, "A lot of people here look so... so..."

The esper's thoughts immediately petered out when his eyes got a small glance at one of the girls in the far back. This girl had long black hair which was tied into a spiky ponytail. Her eyes were a brilliant shade of onyx, twin pools of luminous charcoal that bore into the young esper's soul. Mob's cheeks began to fill with a light red blush, his eyes sparkling with a new sense of astonishment. "So... pretty."

"Hey Kageyama?" One of the students tapped him on the shoulder, bringing Shigeo back to his senses and causing him to jump up from shock. The teenage esper, his cheeks still stained with read, looked back at the student who tapped him, and spoke to him with a shaky and panicked voice.

"Hey, how are you?"

"Good," replied the student, "I just wanted to tell you you're holding up the line." Mob glanced in front of him and realized there were at least three people-sized spaces in front of him.

"Sorry, I just got distracted for a second." The phenomenally powerful esper moved up in the line, his mind only fixated on what just happened and the warm feeling he felt in his heart upon seeing that black-haired girl. What was he feeling just now, the psychic couldn't quite place his finger on whether it was what he thought it was.

* * *

"A quirk assessment test?!"

Having already gone to the changing rooms to put on their jumpsuits, the students were all standing outside a large testing area with multiple different areas marked with white lines, designed for physical activities. But many of the students didn't understand why they were doing this instead of the regular schoolwork and ceremonies that were taking place today. Uraraka noted this and voiced her concerns to Mr. Aizawa. "But sir, all of the other classes are going to orientation!"

The shaggy-haired teacher didn't bat an eye to Uraraka's statement. "U.A. High is meant for people who want to make it to the big leagues. Meaningless ceremonies and orientations aren't gonna help with that objective. This school isn't tethered to traditions like other schools, so that gives me free leverage to run my classes whatever ways I see fit." All of the students were put into silence by their teacher's stern words, so Shota continued.

"While you've been taking regular standardized tests your whole lives," The teacher pulled up a tablet device that had multiple physical exercises listed in bullet points, "But with physical exams, no school has ever given you the opportunity to use your quirks and test their limits.

Aizawa's next statement caused Shigeo's body to slightly tense up. "This country and the entire world is still trying to pretend that we're all created equal by preventing people with the most power from excelling. It isn't rational, and my hope is that the Ministry of Education will manage to understand this fact."

"No. You're wrong." Aizawa's eyebrows furrowed upward, and all of the other students turned to see that it was Shigeo Kageyama who had spoken up. The powerful esper had listened to their teacher talk, and he simply couldn't control himself. "That isn't true. There..." The psychic gulped, feeling sweat beads trickling down his spine, but continued to make his point. "There are a lot of other ways for people to excel without powers."

Every student there was thrown off-balance by their peer's statement. Many of them stood with gaping mouths, some with only slightly widened eyes, and for one hot-headed young man, his eyebrows furrowed as his lips formed a small pout. What the hell was this kid saying? HIM, of all people, the one who got first place in the practical exam? Even Izuku couldn't help be mildly shocked, although he had already gotten to know this perspective of his friend a long time ago. Nevertheless, the green-eyed teenager was beginning to worry about the repercussions his friend might face for speaking out, and those fears were well-founded.

The teacher's eyes squinted at the bowl-haired teenager, and he began to slowly walk toward the young teenager, the other students immediately getting out of his way to let him through. Mob's entire body began to shake, his lips trembling and his eyes drowning in fear as his teacher hovered over him with his deadly stare. For a moment, nothing happened. No one dared to speak a word, and they all waited for their teacher to give his response.

His first reaction was opposite of what everyone was expecting: he curved the corners of his lips up slightly and scoffed. "Is that so?" The esper couldn't give a proper reply. "A rather peculiar statement from you, considering your remarkable performance on the practical exam. However,"

The teacher's smile instantly faded, and all of the students felt an intense pressure forming around him. "You came to this school to become a hero. To do that, you need to overcome the obstacles in your way with your powers and skills. Without that, there's no purpose for students to be here. Too many students arrive, thinking they can make it without the necessary abilities to make it far, which is why this school has such a low acceptance rate. Do you understand that?"

Overtaken by fear, the only signals his brain could send to his body were to his head, ordering it to slowly nod up and down. The stern teacher could see that he got his message through. He had to admit, this teenager had indeed perplexed him. When he saw his performance in the practical exams, and the actions he took to ensure the other applicants had points, it was quite baffling for the unkempt hero. If he hadn't taken out the giant robot and continued focusing on eliminating the other robots, he could have gotten more than 160 villain points.

Something else that intrigued him was his rather neutral expression. Throughout the whole exam, he never looked panicked, excited, or proud of how he was performing. It appeared this child was a serious person like himself. Furthermore, he found it slightly ironic that whenever he activated his powers, his hair would stand up, just like Aizawa.

Regardless of his opinions on this child or the similarities he might have found between them, that did not mean he would give Shigeo any special privileges or harsh punishment if the situation called for it. Aizawa was his teacher, after all, and Shigeo needed to learn his place as the student.

"Since you scored the most points on the entrance exam," Shota twisted his body to the right and pointed at what looked like some sort of throwing station, "Let's see how you do with the softball throw."

"Ok..." The esper walked through the crowd of people with hunched shoulders and his eyes staring at the ground. Once he entered the area lined as a circle, he stood awkwardly and waited for his teacher to give him further instructions.

"What's the farthest distance you've ever gotten on with a softball throw in junior high?"

"Oh, ummm..." Mob tapped his finger to his chin and tried to recall his gym classes. "I think 21 meters?"

Upon hearing this, some of the students snickered at the idea of a student getting such a low throw, although most of them knew that this teenager still had an amazing quirk and was not someone who should be mocked.

"Try it again, but this time use your quirk." The teacher dug in his right pocket and tossed a a ball to the esper. Mob looked at the ball, then back at his teacher. "Are you sure?"

Aizawa's eyebrows furrowed, and his lips formed an annoyed frown. "Of course I'm sure. Now stop being so shy and get on with it. You're wasting our time. Anything goes, just make sure you stay in the circle."

The esper obeyed his teacher's instructions and took a throwing stance. From the sidelines, several of the students eagerly waited to see just what their fellow classmate could do. Izuku had to admit, he was also excited to see Shigeo in action. He'd only gotten a brief demonstration of his powers ten months ago, but even then, it was only at a basic level. Now was the chance to get a better idea of how his friend's powers actually worked. Bakugo, on the other hand, was filled with intent, somewhat deadly curiosity. He had to know what kind of rival he was going up against, what kind of powers this bowl-headed loser possessed.

For Shigeo Kageyama, this was a first for him. During all of his training exercises in this world and back home, he never once used his psychic powers to assist him. He'd never seen how much his psychic energy amplified his physical attributes. Although he knew that his powers gave him enhanced strength, speed and reflexes, he never bothered to see how large the boost was. Now, it appeared the esper could finally have an idea of what he could accomplish with them, although this was practically irrelevant for the psychic teenager.

"Here goes..." The esper was surrounded by his rainbow colored aura, lightly astonishing the other students. The teenager craned his arm back, and with a half-hearted throw coupled with his neutral face, the psychic teenager let the ball loose from his fingers.


	9. Winners and Losers

**Chapter 9 is out! Now all of you readers anxiously waiting for the next chapter to see how Shigeo did on the ball throw will get to see the tests go down with a bang! Enjoy!**

* * *

Surrounded by this rainbow aura, the ball shot through the air like a speeding bullet, appearing only as a rainbow-colored blur in the sky. The power of the throw created visible air vibrations and a very light sonic boom.

"Everyone here needs to know the maximum output of their power." As the ball fell, barely visible in the sky, the homeroom teacher turned back to the class and showed them the distance of Shigeo's throw. All of the students gasped: Shigeo's throw sent the ball 947.1 meters.

"947 meters?" said a student with golden hair.

"Whoa! I wanna go next!" added the girl with pink skin.

"Kageyama..." Izuku's mouth was gaping open. What incredible power! He got that far from a single throw? His psychic energy could amplify his throwing distance that much? It looked like there were still plenty of things he didn't know about Shigeo's psychic powers.

Bakugo scowled, feeling a growing sense of fury bubbling up inside of him. His power was freaking incredible! That shy attitude and nerdy look hid an amazingly strong power that no one would've guessed he had. But just what exactly was his power? Was it some sort of high-functioning support quirk that boosted physical strength? He had to find out more, get a better idea of what kind of quirk Shigeo possessed.

While all of the students expressed their amazement and excitement at the exercises that laid ahead, the esper remained frozen in place. His neutral expression had changed to a slightly surprised demeanor. He looked at his empty hand, for he felt something rather peculiar with that throw just now. He wasn't sure how to explain it, but it felt that his throw was much stronger than it should've been with the amount of psychic energy he used. He hadn't really put that much effort into the throw, but even with the psychic energy he used in-tandem with his throw, it felt as though the force was multiplied by several times.

"Why is that?" Shigeo muttered under his breath, unsure how to explain this sudden boost of power. After a few seconds of pondering the explanation for this, he remembered something from more than ten months ago, back when Claw had first started attacking and he'd been knocked unconscious. When he'd woken up, he was greeted by the Body Improvement Club and a really powerful esper with huge muscles ready to attack them. After Shigeo defeated the esper, Dimple explained to him how he had to possess Goda, the captain of the Body Improvement Club, in order to overpower their opponent beforehand. Shigeo had to admit, he was rather shocked to imagine that Dimple had managed to best that esper: his energy was way higher than most espers he'd encountered, and that was after he had apparently been weakened. Furthermore, Dimple wasn't anywhere close to possessing that level of energy. So how did Dimple manage to defeat that esper? At the time, that was the least of his concerns in the face of the terrorist organization threatening the city, but now the question was racking his mind.

The answer hit him like a freight train: it was the muscles. Psychic powers amplified a person's physical traits to extremely high levels by channeling the energy through their bodies, so-much-so that even Shigeo, a complete weakling, was able to break through stone and other sturdy structures with ease. But with that psychic power sending energy through a body that's already been trained and honed, with muscles like iron, the extra boost the psychic energy gave would be several times greater. It was enough that even a somewhat weak spirit like Dimple had enough energy to give Goda the power he needed to best the esper.

With Shigeo, now that he'd built up his muscles after months and months of back-breaking workouts, his psychic energy intensified his physical strength worlds beyond what he ever imagined, so-much-so that even with a fraction of his psychic power, the energy was still enough to give his muscles a huge boost. The esper never imagined that the work he put into improving his body would actually translate into improvement with his psychic powers. It was... an unintentional bonus.

"Who would have thought," the esper murmured.

"Today, all of you are going to participate in eight physical tests to properly measure your potential. But let me warn you all: whoever comes in last will be expelled from U.A. High."

A jolt of electricity surged through the crowd, eliciting terrified gasps from every student in the class. But the person hit hardest of all by this test was Izuku Midoriya. The verdant-irised fanboy was at the largest disadvantage: he still didn't have a good grip on his quirk. A single use was still enough to break his body, and there were eight different tests. Trembling with fear, Izuku held his hand and gazed at it while he continued to identify the tremendous challenge he was facing now.

"Don't be so surprised. This is still my class," The teacher held the front of his hair up, properly revealing his devilish grin and mocking eyes. "And if any of you have a problem with that," Shota directed his gaze at Shigeo, a move which made Shigeo buck his hips, "Then just take off that uniform and head for the exit."

Despite his intimidating aura and his status as their homeroom teacher, the students still felt this was a morally reprehensible decision for the first day of school.

One of the students, Uraraka, made her frustration known to the teacher. "You can't do this! We've been working really hard to get here, and it's only our first day! Expelling one of us on the first day just isn't fair!"

"Oh, you think that natural disasters are?" Uraraka was put into silence. "You think that natural disasters are just going to wait until you're ready? They're going to decrease in intensity to match your level of capability? And what about villains with dangerous and unpredictable quirks? Are they just going to stop wreaking havoc or hold back on you just because you can't handle their level? This world is filled with unfair events that threaten the public. As a hero, it'll be your responsibility to combat that unfairness. That means you'll have to constantly push yourself, find ways to improve your powers and make sure you stay ahead of the villains. These three years, U.A. High's gonna hammer you with these hardships, and it'll be up to you to overcome these challenges. That means going beyond, plus ultra style!" The teacher extended his finger and motioned the students towards him. "Now show me that you belong at this school."

Although these words were harsh, they were filled with necessary truths. Undoubtedly, threats would arise that needed powerful heroes with advanced experience and formidable quirks. Even Shigeo could find some sense of reason with this teacher's sharp tongue, and while he still found Aizawa's suggestion of expulsion to be heinous, he still seemed to be knowledgeable about what it took to be a hero.

Similarly, Tenya Iida was not pleased with the hazing method his teacher was employing, but knew that this was U.A. High, and for such a prestigious institution, he needed to live up to their standards.

"Now enough talking. It's another time-waster. Let the games begin. First test: 50-meter dash." The teacher touched his tablet device and scrolled through the list of students in his class. "Tsuyu Asui, Tenya Iida, you're up first."

Tenya Iida and another girl with long green hair which was oddly tied down to the bottom of her back in the form of a bowtie walked to the starting lines of the run. On the end of the track, there was an automated camera with a speaker that served as the referee for the races. While the rest of the students huddled to see them run, Shigeo walked up to his friend Izuku's side and whispered in his ear, "Are you going to be able to handle this?"

Knowing the truth about One for All and the limited ability Izuku had of wielding it, he grew very concerned for his friend's status as a student at U.A. High. Izuku met his friend's eyes, trying his best to put up a confident face, but Shigeo could easily see the fear churning in his eyes. Mob couldn't let his friend fail like this, which was why he offered his easy solution to this problem.

Shigeo once again leaned up to his friend's ear and softly murmured, "Izuku, if you want, I can transfer my energy to you." The fanboy let out a light gasp. He'd heard about his ability to absorb and transfer energy, but he never thought about the implications or in what ways Shigeo could use this ability. Shigeo continued, "It won't last long, but it'll give you an added boost in strength and let you perform better on the tests."

"Shigeo..." This sounded too good to be true. If he couldn't handle One for All at the moment, then this psychic energy boost could give him the edge he needed to make sure he didn't get last place. And yet...

Even though it was a perfect opportunity, it seemed too dishonest. It would give him an unfair advantage, which basically equated to cheating, and that wasn't who he was. Izuku had spent all this time training, honing his body to become a hero, doing it the right way. And if it really did help him not get in last place, he'd be spending the rest of his time at U.A. High feeling guilty for possibly putting the person who would get last place in that spot.

This was why the green-haired politely smiled at his friend and softly shook his head. "No thanks. I appreciate the offer, but I'm gonna do this with my own power."

"Are you su-"

"What the hell are you two talking about?" Bakugo noticed Shigeo whispering in Deku's ear and didn't like it at all. What the hell could they be talking about, and more importantly, if Shigeo was as powerful as he was showing himself to be, then why the fuck would he be talking to a loser like Deku? Upon being confronted like this, both Shigeo and Izuku gave similar reactions of shyness and uncomfortableness.

"Nothing important," said Shigeo, "Just talking about how the other applicants just did." In reality, they'd only gotten a glimpse of their performances.

Tenya Iida got a very impressive 3.04 seconds: his quirk, Engine, gave him engines on his lower calves that boosted his speed to extraordinary levels. The other girl, Tsuyu Asui, got 5.58 seconds; her quirk was called Frog, which gave her all of the natural abilities a frog had, such as a long, whip-like tongue, an enhanced leap, and many other nifty features.

"Ochaco Uraraka, Mashirao Ojiro, you two are next!" Uraraka and Ojiro, a tall boy with short, blond hair and a very long tail with a bushy yellow tip, walked up to the starting lines. "I'll lighten up my shoes to slightly decrease my weight. And my clothes too." She touched her right shoulder-blade and her shoes, emitting a light pink aura from her hands. The machine made a starting gun noise, and the two contestants went off. Sprinting with everything she had, her quirk sadly did not give her much of an advantage when it came to speed. Meanwhile, Ojiro managed to use his tail to jump forward, giving him a time of 5.49 seconds, while Uraraka only got 7.15 seconds. Nevertheless, the young girl seemed pleased with the results while she brought her fingers together to end the effects of her quirk. "Better than last year, at least."

Next on the roster was the flamboyant blonde teenager with cerulean blue eyes, whose name was Yuga Aoyama, and the girl who had a pink skin complexion, Mina Ashido. The pink-colored girl took a running position, but Aoyama, his confident smirk still plastered on his face, decided not to take a normal sprint position, instead turning his back to the track. "Valiant effort, mes amis, but I'm afraid you're not showing enough panache!"

"Runners, on your mark!" The referee fired the starting pistol, and Aoyama jumped up into the air. Taking a rather innovative approach with his quirk, the teenager fired his sparkling energy beam in the opposite direction, propelling him toward the finish line. At first, Aoyama appeared as though he would zip through with no problem and get a very impressive time. But only after a single second, his laser beam began to peter out, until it completely vanished, making Aoyama fall in an unimpressive and slightly sad fashion. Meanwhile, Mina was skating on the track, thanks to her quirk: Acid. With this ability, Mina was able to create the corrosive liquid from any part of her body, and right now, she was forming acid under her feet to increase her speed and decrease the the force of friction from running.

Mina smiled with glee as she passed the finish line.

"4.71 seconds!"

Meanwhile, Aoyama forced himself back up and fired another short burst of energy to close the last little distance that remained.

"5.51 seconds!"

Despite his jumpsuit being covered in dirt and grime, the extravagant teenager turned to look at his classmates and confidently explained, "You see, firing my beam for more than a second hurt my tummy."

All of the students frowned, annoyed by this student's shiny, boastful disposition.

"What a tool," thought all of the students.

Observing all of the tests, Aizawa took note on how each of the students were handling the sprint. By testing the upper limits of their strength, it became easier for Aizawa to assess their room for growth, what they could and could not do, and how much room they had to grow.

The next students called up to run were Midoriya and Bakugo. When their names were called, Izuku gulped and felt his palms grow sweaty. Likewise, Shigeo felt a great deal of concern for his friend, knowing the severe limitations of his power. The fanboy gave Shigeo a shaky and fear-ridden smile and prepared to take his place on the track.

Right beside him, Bakugo was stern and focused, ready to complete the challenge before him. The blonde-haired teenager was still confident in his abilities: he'd been honing his quirk for a very long time, determining the applications with which it could be used and in what ways it would be best usable.

The mechanical referee fired the starting pistol, and the racers were off. As soon as he got to a running start, Bakugo wickedly smiled and crossed his arms to ready his quirk.

"Burst Speed!"

Bakugo thrust his hands behind him and unleashed multiple blasts. The recoil effect from the explosions propelled him forward at an even greater speed. Appearing almost like a fiery comet, the explosive teenager passed the finish line, and relished the time as it was announced. "4.13 seconds!"

Once he finished the sprint, his face morphed into a more neutral expression, and he looked at both of his smoking hands. "My quirk's got more uses than anyone else's at this school," thought Bakugo, his arrogance shining as brightly as ever.

Regrettably for Midoriya, the physical training he'd undergone didn't really aid him enough to stand out in such a test, causing him to finish the run after 7.02 seconds. Once he finished his sprint, the student quickly caught his breath and arched his back forward from exhaustion. His childhood friend gazed at the pathetic classmate before him and scorned Deku for his quirkless and weak nature.

Midoriya's mind was continuing to panic. Almost of the odds were against him in this scenario. With seven tests remaining, it gave the rest of the students the chance to use the quirks and get amazing scores. Meanwhile, Izuku could only his quirk for one of the tests before breaking down. So what was left for Izuku to do?

* * *

_"You can harness One for All." After getting a safe distance from the citizens and ensuring there was no one else around, the group of three were now standing on the sidewalk while All Might attempted to give his advice for using One for All. When lecturing his protege about the process and implications of using such a powerful quirk, one would imagine that All Might would give a thoughtful, advanced description of the sensations brought about when using One for All. _

_Sadly, this was not the case. "You've gotta feel it!" Toshinori shouted, causing comical sweat beads to fall down both Shigeo and Izuku's faces._

_ The fanboy grunted with mild frustration, but making sure to remain respectful, exclaimed, "Could you be a little more specific, All Might?"_

_Obliging Izuku's request, All Might expanded upon his explanation, punching the air to reflect the rush using One for All was like. "So you've gotten a taste of firing your quirk at all-cylinders. The huge rush of energy flowing through your body, giving you unbridled power and enflamed passion." _

_Shigeo could relate to All Might's description: whenever he felt himself explode from the rush of emotions before him, he felt a large surge of energy. How large the surge was and what he felt during the power-up varied on his emotional state, but there was nevertheless a significant change of emotion that occurred. _

_When trying to give a proper explanation to illustrate the sensation he felt when using his power, Izuku was having trouble coming up with the right description. "Like a bbzzzt? Or whoosh? Maybe kapow? Oh, I got it! Like an egg about to explode in a microwave!" _

_The symbol of peace began to vomit blood, puzzled by the decision for such an odd way of describing One for All. "Pretty boring metaphor, if you ask me, but if it does the trick for you, then fine._

_"If you're gonna use that metaphor, then try to lower the voltage, increase the cooking time, whatever it is. Just constantly visualize it and focus on keeping that egg from exploding. You have three weeks until U.A. starts its first semester, so for the next few weeks, work on keeping that concentration. The more you work at it, the faster you'll learn. Controlling it isn't gonna be easy, and like I said, it'll take time. But mastery's gonna come, don't doubt that. You just gotta keep putting in the effort."_

* * *

Izuku's eyebrows furrowed with resolve, and against the fear and panic of failure, the fanboy was still going to find a way to pass this test and stay at this school.

Watching from afar, the expressionless teacher took note of Izuku's relatively unimpressive running speed. Aizawa saw how this teenager did on the practical exam, barely scrapping by with hero points and not getting a single villain point. Despite his bravery, the teacher was not impressed with Izuku's resolve or even his power. No, he was confident Izuku Midoriya would be the one to fail.

"Midoriya..." The bowl-haired esper looked on with despondency. He wished his friend had accepted the offer of loaning him psychic energy. Now he was up against the rest of these students without a weapon in his arsenal.

"Shigeo Kageyama, Rikido Sato! On the running line!" Mob heard his name and quietly got himself ready at the starting line. Beside him was Rikido, a very tall, buff teenager with spiky brown hair. Upon looking at him, Shigeo immediately thought of the Body Improvement Club and all of the well-built members. Looks like this guy had built himself up pretty well. Then, the esper was taken by surprise when Rikido took a small vial of what seemed to be sugar and poured a small amount of it into his mouth. Upon ingesting it, all of his muscles began to slightly increase in size. "Does that mean... he can make himself stronger by eating sugar?" Shigeo thought, once again surprised by the unique variety of quirks there were.

"On your mark!" Mob's body was surrounded by a light blue aura, and both runners took their starting positions. The pistol fired in the air, and the teenagers bolted. For the esper, his leg power caused a very light boom and soft gust of wind, a testament to his unbelievable strength.

All of the students, even Aizawa, were baffled by the bowl-haired teenager as he effortlessly ran the fifty meters. The students had no way of knowing that this was still but a fraction of his full power, even less than he'd used before, in fact.

"0.02 seconds!" Passing the finish line with a lifeless look in his eyes, the esper quickly powered down, once again surprised at how much faster a small portion of his power gave him. With this increase, he'd have to be even more careful about holding back.

"My god, man!" From the crowd of students, a student with spiky red hair spoke up. "That was freaking insane!"

Shigeo was about to give a reply, but he was interrupted by the looming figure of Bakugo, gazing into his eyes with even more frustration and anger than before. When the hot-headed student spoke, his voice was quiet and hushed, hiding his churning rage. "How the hell did you pull that off? What kind of quirk do you have?"

"Oh..." Some of the other students, including Izuku, opened their ears with more burgeoning curiosity, "My quirk basically revolves around psychic energy. I can channel it through my body to increase my power, which is what I did for the last two tests."

The other students let out awed gasps, marveling at what this teenager could do. Bakugo, on the other hand, clenched his fist and deepened the frown on his face. "Don't get cocky. There're still six more tests for me to outmatch you, bowl-cut. So watch yourself."

The blonde-haired teenager turned around and huffed with defiance, leaving the esper alone and rather confused by Bakugo's last words. Shigeo wasn't trying to prove himself better than Bakugo or anyone else. He was just doing what the teacher told him to do, that's all.

Aizawa did a quick analysis based on Shigeo's performance in the entrance exam and the tests he just conducted. His quirk gave him standard telekinetic abilities, but it seemed that he expanded his range of usage of his powers. He must've trained a great deal in order to be able to utilize his psychic power throughout his entire body. Even for someone with such high standards as Aizawa, the teacher was impressed by what he saw. He'd have to see how he fared in the rest of the tests, but from what he'd seen thus far, he had unbelievable potential.

* * *

As the day went on, the students continued with the rest of their tests. After the 50 meter run, the next tests were grip strength, standard long jump, and repeated side-steps. Each of the students utilized their quirks to excel in their own ways, just as Izuku had predicted, giving them the chance to shine. Even so, all of them still couldn't hold a candle to Shigeo with just a fraction of his psychic power. As the tests went on, Bakugo's fury grew and grew: Shigeo's quirk gave him strength and speed he'd never seen before. It didn't make sense!

Shigeo noticed the powers of each of the students, and some tended to impress him more than others. One of the most interesting quirks he'd seen thus far was the girl with onyx eyes he'd noticed before. For the tests, she somehow created items that matched what she needed. For instance, when it was her turn to run the 50 meter dash, she created a very long poll that shot her forward at a very high speed. He didn't really understand it how it worked at all, but it was still pretty nifty to see a cute girl like that be able to create objects like that.

After the first four tests, the students returned to the ball throw test. Standing up next for the test was Uraraka, who was actually confident for this test, for her quirk gave the teenager a large advantage. The students waited in anticipation to see what she would do for the ball throw. With the ball in her hand, she craned her arm back, and when she swung it forward, the ball emitted a light purple aura and began to float into the air. Many of the students were unable to understand exactly what she'd just done.

The teacher showed the final result to the students, and they all couldn't believe it: she'd gotten infinity!

"Infinity?"

The other students openly expressed their shock. "How's that even possible," the golden-haired teenager said.

Even Shigeo was not expecting Uraraka to show off such a quirk. It looked as though she was able to make things float just by touching them, and what's more, those objects didn't seem to have a limit on how long they could be suspended in the air. Another unexpected power.

"Bakugo, your turn." The fiery teenager smirked: now he could have a proper chance to defeat Shigeo. When it came to strength, his quirk was extremely advantageous for him. He was confident it would be enough to put the bowl-haired nerd in his place. Bakugo walked to the throwing area and took his own throwing stance. Unlike Shigeo, though, his method had many more stepsThe teenager clasped the ball with both of his hands, raised the ball over his head, and with a rage-induced scream, Bakugo threw the ball with all of his power. Using his explosion quirk to increase the range several levels, a large fiery smoke surrounded the student. Like Shigeo's throw, the ball flew at incredible speeds, enveloped by the fiery flames of his explosion and creating several small air currents as well.

"Yes!" Bakugo grinned with wicked pride, watching his ball go soaring into the air and falling far off into the distance. As soon as he saw the ball drop to the ground, he looked at his teacher with ravenous anticipation. "Come on, what's my distance."

Mr. Aizawa showed Bakugo and the rest of the class his score: 705.2 meters. Some of the students were still impressed by the power of the throw, knowing that it was still amazing despite it being less than Shigeo's throw. But as expected from Bakugo, the blonde-haired teenager screamed in unyielding rage.

"DAMN IT!"

"That's enough!" The teacher's tired eyes became hardened and hostile. "You're wasting time with your temper tantrum. Now stand back with the rest of the class!"

Still seething with rage, the young student was forced to relent and marched back to the rest of the class, although everyone in his vicinity took about two steps away from Bakugo. Shigeo took note of Bakugo's unyielding indignation. The esper was finally starting to get a better picture of what Bakugo was really like, and for him, it was rather easy to identify because he'd seen someone just like him: Teruki Hanazawa.

His enemy-turned-friend was once equally self-righteous, believing himself to be the best due to his psychic powers. Bakugo was just like this: he seemed to be dead-set on proving himself better than all of the other students because of his belief that his powers made him superior to everyone else. When the possibility of him not being the best was presented, Bakugo tapped into his unbelievable rage, just like Hanazawa had done during their first battle.

After Bakugo finished blowing off his high-pressure steam, Mr. Aizawa moved onto the next student. "Midoriya, you're up."

The fanboy felt his body run cold. It was his turn. As he'd seen from all the other tests, everyone else had already gotten at least amazingly good score, and Shigeo excelled in every test so far. All the tests that remained after this were the long-distance run, seated toe-touches, and sit ups. None of those tests could give him the opportunity to use One for All needed to boost his score. That meant this was the only chance he had to keep himself from kicking the bucket.

Shigeo was feeling a great deal of distress. His palms were oozing with seat, his eyes alarmed and panicked, and his lips pursed into a tight frown. Things still weren't looking good for his friend. He needed to find a way to dig himself out of this hole he was in, and fast. Likewise, the other spectating students, Iida and Uraraka, looked on with growing concern.

"If Midoriya doesn't shape up quickly, it'll me him who gets expelled," remarked Tenya.

Bakugo, who was standing right beside him, felt the veins on his neck pulse, feeling that Tenya had to state the obvious. "What, you just figured that out? Of course he's the one going home! He's a quirkless nobody!"

Tenya stammered for a moment, confused by Bakugo's statement. "What do you mean? He has a quirk! I've seen it in-person during the entrance exam!"

Bakugo took this in with equal confusion. What was Iida talking about? His whole life, he'd known that Midoriya was born quirkless, so what kind of power could've gotten into this school?

As he observed Midoriya take his stance, the messy-haired teacher recalled the teenager's bold move when he destroyed the obstacle during the practical exam. While the other teachers had cheered his heroism and the judges were impressed by Izuku's bravery, Aizawa was not so eager to applaud his actions. Immediately after destroying the machine, his body was broken, leaving defenseless and nearly getting himself killed from the height of his fall. If it wasn't for Uraraka's intervention, he would've likely been even more damaged or tried to use his only remaining limb to cushion his blow. At that point, he'd be unable to do anything. In a battle, it'd be over for him. So now, it seemed likely that Midoriya would try to follow that same path, breaking his bones to boost his score. Aizawa would have to wait for a moment to confirm, and if he was correct, then it'd be his time to act.

As the formerly quirkless teenager stood in the circle, holding the ball in his hand and staring off into the distance, memories of everything that had led him here flooded him. Earlier today, when his mother expressed true pride in her son, for everything he'd done to make it to this point. In the very beginning, when All Might finally told him the words he'd been waiting so long to hear. Just before going to the practical exams, when he and Shigeo promised each other the next time they saw one another, it would be as U.A. students.

The young teenager closed his eyes and stammered. They'd all put their faith in him, helped him through the struggles he'd faced to follow his dream, and he absolutely could not let them down! The green-eyed teenager pulled his arm back, focusing the power of One for All into his arm to give him and causing it to glow with bright red energy. Upon seeing this, Shigeo's eyes lit up, understanding that his friend was channeling his quirk into his arm. He watched in eager anticipation as Izuku unleashed his strength and proved to everyone here what he could do.

"I won't disappoint you all!"

What he didn't realize was that one person was already disappointed: Aizawa. Seeing the teenager's reckless actions, the teacher's eyes glowed bright red, activating his quirk. As soon as this happened, all of the power in Midoriya's arm vanished: the ball barely flew into the sky, and with a light thud, landed at a pathetically close distance. "46 meters!"

Midoriya's entire body froze, his arm and leg remaining suspended in the air. Similarly, Shigeo's mouth gaped open slightly with shock. What happened? The ball should've gone soaring!

Midoriya gazed at his hand with disbelief. "I don't understand: I was positive I was using my power just now."

"I erased your quirk."

The green-haired hero shifted his body and gasped. His teacher's long scarf had begun to uncoil, floating around Aizawa's body. His long hair was standing up, and the dull, lifeless eyes were now a deep shade of red. All of the students were confounded by their teacher's claim. What did he mean when he said he "erased" Midoriya's quirk? Shigeo, in particular, didn't understand. Even if he could somehow "erase" Midoriya's quirk, what would compel him to do that? Izuku was just about to show the power of One for All!

Aizawa answered Shigeo's question with a detached iciness in his voice. "The judges in this exam weren't rational when they gave you that score. Someone like you should never have been allowed into this school in the first place."

Shigeo's muscles went rigid, and his posture stiffened. What did Aizawa just say? How could he say that? He'd worked with all of his heart to get to this school with a determination he'd never seen in anyone before. That alone made him worthy of enrolling in this school.

While these thoughts were on Shigeo's mind, Izuku was still trying to process how his teacher was able to cancel One for All. "Hold on, you mean you-" His eyes bulged, and he let out a small yelp when he noticed something hung around the teacher's neck. It was a pair of goggles. "Those goggles. I know you. You're Eraserhead, the hero who can look at people and nullify their quirks."

The other students crowded together, mumbling amongst themselves and trying to see if any of them had ever heard of this hero. Shigeo, however, didn't take his eyes off of Izuku or Aizawa, remaining within earshot of both of them. Moreover, all of the students and were completely unaware that the Symbol of Peace was peeking his head around the corner and observing the scene play out with a tightening chest. Earlier in the morning, he'd taken the initiative to learn more about the school and who his two pupils would have as homeroom teachers. He grimaced when he discovered that Aizawa would be their teacher. For Shigeo, this wouldn't be such a problem, but Midoriya, on the other hand, would be singled out from the start. It pained him to see his assumptions were correct.

The Erasure hero's narrowed red eyes looked down at the inexperienced teenager before him. "You're not ready to enroll here. You haven't learned how to control your power yet. Just now, you were planning to break your arm, leaving yourself incapacitated and expecting someone else to come in and save you."

Izuku tried to defend himself to his teacher. "No, that's not what I intended to-" The scarf moved, wrapping itself around Izuku's body and dragging him toward Aizawa until they were only a few inches apart. Shigeo's pulse quickened, although he remained silent and allowed the teacher to continue speaking.

"No matter what your intentions are or what you hoped to accomplish, in a real fight, you'd be nothing more than a liability, another problem for the other heroes to deal with. Your reckless, headstrong attitude is just the same as another overzealous hero, a man who saved more than a thousand people singlehandedly and became a living legend.

"Yet even with such a fiery determination, you won't be able to save anyone if you break down after a single punch. Sorry to say, but with your power and lack of control, there isn't a chance you can become a hero."

Izuku's lips were pressed tightly, his green eyes quickly losing their bright passion. Likewise, the other students felt pity stirring in their hearts. Shigeo's pulse had dropped, and the esper didn't have the same look of frustration in his eyes as before. Even if he was blunt with his words, Mob couldn't say that Aizawa was wrong. In every fight he'd been in, he always needed to stay strong, keep himself powered up and on-guard to make sure he wasn't hurt or anyone else around him wasn't hurt. If he'd broken down from the start, then who knows what could've happened with all of those fights. He needed to remain strong throughout the fight to protect others, and from what he could see, Izuku simply couldn't do that. Even so, it still didn't feel right for his friend to be forced out just when he started developing as a hero. So what was left for Izuku to do? The esper didn't know.

Aizawa unwinded the scarf around Izuku, wrapping it around his body once again and stopping his erasure. Once he released Izuku, the teenager broke eye contact with his teacher and bent his neck forward.

"I've returned your impractical quirk. Now take your final throw and get it over with."

The green-eyed fanboy, his face bearing a stony expression and his eyes remaining glued to the ground, picked up the ball and pondered his options. Similarly, Aizawa was deducing that Izuku would either use his quirk and forfeit the tests like an imbecile or admit his inadequacy and settle for last place. Either way, it didn't matter what option he picked: he still didn't belong at this school.

Izuku was at a crossroads: he lacked proper control over his power, but at the same time, what kind of person would he be if he just threw in the towel now, after ten months of working to the brink of death. So then, was the only option really letting the egg explode in the microwave? Even now, it seemed like that was the only option he had left to stay at U.A.

The fanboy tightened his fists and furrowed his brow. Izuku had to try something, no matter what consequences it might bring! His muscles tightened in preparation, and the student flung his arm back to prepare for his swing. As he was readying himself to let the ball fly, his teacher's words came to mind. Like Shigeo, Izuku understood that Mr. Aizawa was absolutely right. If he couldn't control One for All, if he left it up to other heroes to rescue him, then there was absolutely no way he could become a hero. That meant he had to work ten times harder than everyone else here in order to succeed in his dream. Even if there were still so many lessons for him to learn, those lessons didn't matter: all that mattered in that moment was what he COULD do. And what the verdant-eyed teenager could do was prevent his arm from being completely mangled. All he needed to do was focus, keep the egg from exploding.

From the sidelines, All Might and Shigeo felt their skin prickle in anticipation and uneasiness. Was Izuku really going to go through with this? Was he going to break his arm?

No. The teenager concentrated his power into a single part of his body, something that he could stand to lose without being completely broken: his finger. The tip of his index finger began to glow bright red, giving him the power he needed to get at least some boost. Yes, this would be enough!

"SMASH!" With his burning soul tempered by his cool focus, the teenager screamed and let the ball loose from his fingers. Upon releasing the ball, the same sonic booms and wind pressure created during Shigeo's fist throw formed, leaving all of the spectating individuals with dazed looks. The teenagers watched the ball soar through the air, although Shigeo's first instinct was to see how badly Izuku was damaged. He took note of the red swelling on his friend's right index finger. It looked broken, alright, but it was only isolated to a single finger. Did that mean... Izuku was able to focus One for All into only his finger?

The ball fell far off into the horizon, and the teacher read the distance on his device: 705.3 meters. The hero instinctively formed a small smile, although his attention was brought back onto Midoriya.

"Mr. Aizawa."

The passionate teenager's eyes sparkled with his typical drive, although he was biting his lip, feeling the pain of his broken finger shooting up inside of him, though not nearly as painful as when he first used One for All. Izuku clenched his right hand, and with his trembling smile, proudly proclaimed, "I'm still standing, Mr. Aizawa."

Aizawa's once-lifeless eyes were now widened with excitement, his lips curving up into a wide smile. It looks like he'd misjudged Midoriya, what he could do with his power, how much he could adapt. "This kid..."

From behind the wall, the symbol of peace beamed with pride. "I was worried about you at first, Midoriya, but you did an outstanding job. Understanding you had to use One for All but not so much that it would destroy your body, you shot the power through your finger, minimizing injury while maximizing strength. So impressive, Midoriya!"

The other students expressed their amazement. "Over 700 meters?" the gold-haired student exclaimed.

"Yea, that's the way," Uraraka shouted, raising her hands into the air and beaming with joy.

Tenya was also impressed with his strength, but observed Midoriya's injury. "His finger seems to be broken, just like in the practical exam. I can't get a very good understanding of his quirk."

"That throw wasn't very pretty either," remarked Aoyama, not showing any visible shock.

Bakugo, however, was an entirely different story. The air was completely knocked out of his lungs, and his mouth was opened wide enough to fit a baseball inside. What he just saw was in complete defiance of everything he'd come to understand about Deku. The first and most important fact about Deku was that he was quirkless. It was basically how he'd come to define this nerd. So then how in fucking god did he get a quirk?

"If he actually had a quirk, he would've gotten it when we were kids!" thought Bakugo, "This can't be right! This has gotta be some kind of trick he's pulling on me! I'M GONNA GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS!" The hot-headed student tensed his fingers, creating miniature explosions in his hands.

The teenager's rage fueled his movement and caused him to lash out like a dog being let off his leash. "DEKU, YOU BASTARD!" The esper was too focused on Izuku to notice Bakugo's bubbling rage, and wasn't ready for the teenager to bolt. But when Shigeo saw the teenager rush towards his friend, he was about to stop him with his telekinesis. However, having seen how furious Bakugo was before and the small signs of anger he'd shown towards Izuku, Aizawa was somewhat prepared for another outburst and could react before the esper. "TELL ME HO-"

Before Bakugo could move a few feet from his spot, Aizawa activated his Erasure quirk and his scarf capture weapon to restrain the violent student. Bakugo desperately tried to break free of the bondages, but the grip on him was too strong.

"What the hell... is this strength? It's just a scarf, but I can barely move."

"This is no ordinary scarf: it was designed by me as a capture weapon. Woven together with carbon fiber and a special metal alloy, breaking free of this is not an easy task. Now stand down. With a second outburst like that, you're walking on thin ice, Bakugo."

Like the many instances earlier today, the furious teenager had no choice but to concede to his teacher's demand. Aizawa returned the scarf to his side and stopped his quirk.

Seeing Bakugo had given up, the teacher waved his hand in dismissal. "Alright, whoever's up next, go on ahead."

Izuku still eyed Bakugo with caution, noting his clenched fists and eyes staring at the ground. Not taking his eyes off of him, he side-stepped around his childhood friend, and after a few more seconds of uneasy stares, he ran to the side of his students. Shigeo was the first to come to his side. "Your finger," remarked Mob, frowning at the sight of the broken appendage, "You broke it. How bad does it hurt?"

Izuku tried to ease his friend's concerns. "It's really not that bad. I can tough it out." Shigeo's frown nominally lessened, although he still felt great discomfort in seeing his friend hurt like this.

Uraraka walked up to Izuku with her eyebrows drawn together, gazing at the teenager's broken finger with equal worry as Shigeo. "Wow, you really did a number on your finger there..."

Upon seeing Uraraka and her worried stare, the fanboy felt a flush that crept across his cheeks. "Don't worry about it!"

While the friends of the young fanboy were concerning themselves over his health, the rambunctious young teenager was still seething about this new revelation and the power Deku had gained. None of this made any sense: before the exam, he was nothing. Simply a little bug that could be squashed with ease. But now, now... A roiling heat began to grow in his belly, his teeth bared with frightening vice. How was this possible?

Bakugo's hate-filled eyes were focused on Deku and the students surrounding him. However, he was caught off-guard when he saw Shigeo glance at him with hardened eyes. Izuku noticed his friend's aggravated stare and felt a small bead of sweat forming on his face. "Kageyama, just let it go."

"Don't look at me like that, bowl-cut!"

_47%_

The powerful psychic tore his eyes away from Bakugo. He didn't want to start anything big or force the teacher to intervene again. But he couldn't just leave things as they were now. Bakugo had nearly attacked Izuku and could've seriously harmed him. The esper couldn't let this simply be ignored. It was unacceptable! Mob needed to set some things straight with Bakugo, before things got any worse.

* * *

Once the remaining students finished with their throws, they went on with the three remaining tests, and as expected, Shigeo continued to excel in all of the tests, and Izuku continued to fail. The esper had continued to insist he give his friend energy, the Izuku remained firm in resolve to continue of his own power.

With all of the tests completed, the group of students were all crowded around their teacher, waiting to see how they'd done in their tests. Shigeo stood right beside Izuku, both of their muscles twitching in fear and edgy anticipation for what place young Midoriya had gotten. Seeing the looks of nervousness in all of their eyes, Aizawa decided to get straight to the point.

"Time to give you your results. I've ranked you all from best to worst, but you should all already have a general idea of where you stand. Talking to all of you individually to show you your score it a waste of time, so I'll just pull up the whole list."

The fanboy clenched his fist and tightly shut his eyes. He only managed to do well on the ball throw challenge: every other test, he couldn't use One for All and ended up failing while everyone else succeeded. Could he really scrape by with only a single good score?

"Here it is." The verdant-eyed teenager barely had the strength to open his eyes, and when he did, his heart sank to the ground. Likewise, the young esper was left breathless when he read through the list: he had placed in first, which was, as one who knew Shigeo would imagine, trivial to the psychic. But then came the last place ranking he'd been dreading to see: Izuku Midoriya, 20th.

"Last place..." The fanboy dropped his head down, keeping his eyes closed and clenching his fist in frustration. This was it: he was going to be expelled from U.A. High.

"Actually, I lied, nobody's going home." Shigeo and Izuku felt their hearts stop, their eyes rapidly blinking in disbelief at what they'd just heard. The teacher's mouth curved into a devious smile.

"That was just a rational deception to make sure nobody held back during the tests."

Several of the students drew sharp gasps of disbelief, feeling like they'd just been played as fools. Here they'd been stressing themselves over the possibility of being expelled from this school, and it turned out it was all just a goof? The girl with onyx eyes and a spiked ponytail, however, was practically unfazed by this revelation, having seen through their teacher's bluff long before.

"Were you guys really not able to figure that out yourselves? I guess I should've told you guys before."

Upon hearing this girl's statement, some of other students narrowed their eyes. "Yea, you should have."

While the other students expressed their shock and frustration at this revelation, what was more concerning and irritating for Katsuki Bakugo were two things: one, the fact that Shigeo had gotten first place, beating him in every test they'd taken. Two, that Deku wasn't heading home like he should have. That would've been a major load taken off of the hot-headed teenager. But no, it looked like Deku was going to keep on being a major pain in his ass.

"And with that, you're all done for the day. Go pick up the syllabuses from the classroom and read them over before heading home."

Upon having the initial shock factor mitigated, the next feelings that filled both Izuku and Shigeo were utter relief: they both took sighs of relief, releasing the stress that had been built up.

"Midoriya." The teacher walked up to the green-haired teenager and took out a piece of paper from his pocket.

"Take this paper and go have the old lady fix you up. Keep in mind that the real training starts tomorrow, so be prepared." The teacher's statement reminded Midoriya of the weight of his inferiority and the large obstacles that still remained in his path.

After giving Midoriya the note, Aizawa left the students to themselves and made his way to the teacher's lounge. Waiting behind the wall with his hands placed at his sides, the number one hero scowled at his fellow teacher's actions. "Aizawa, that was a rotten move!"

The long-haired teacher barely acknowledged the hero, replying with a icy tone in his voice. "All Might. What're you doing here? You didn't have any talk shows or interviews planned for today?"

"A rational deception, you said? A cute excuse, but you're not exactly known for being light-hearted. I looked over your profile today: last year, you got rid of an entire class of freshman students. You've never had any problem kicking students out, anyone you think can't cut it at U.A. You WERE planning on sending last place home." The hero pointed his finger at Aizawa. "So what that means is that you see the same potential for growth in Midoriya that I do!"

All Might seemed rather keen about what'd just happened and on Izuku Midoriya. "Why exactly does it matter to you?" The teacher glanced at the fellow hero and slyly smirked. "From what you're saying, it sounds as if you've been watching this entire time." All Might tensed his muscles and recoiled his finger.

"It's only the beginning of the year. I wouldn't recommend having favorites already." The unkempt teacher continued his walk to the teacher's lounge, but before leaving the hero alone, he decided to be honest and give him his two cents on Midoriya. "There isn't zero room for potential in Midoriya, that much I'll admit. If that were true, I would've sent him home without a second thought. It's wrong to let a child chase an unattainable dream."

Despite the underhanded tactics he employed and his strict nature, All Might could see that in his own way, Shota Aizawa was kind. Like him, All Might had understood that Midoriya could not a hero without a quirk when they first met, telling him the unfortunate truth of reality even if it was hard for him to hear it. Chasing a dream that could never be reached would only cause even more pain, a greater sense of disillusionment, and wasted time. Aizawa understood this. Even so...

"You and I are gonna have quite a few problems, Aizawa."

* * *

Once the tests were over, the students changed back into their uniforms and went to get their syllabuses. While the rest of the teenagers were expressing their relief and the nervousness about what had happened in the tests, Shigeo had moved past this shock. No, the thing that was most important on the esper's mind was Katsuki Bakugo. That explosive teenager clearly didn't seem to have any problems with using his powers to hurt others, and he had a seething rage for Izuku. Shigeo couldn't let this go on, and now he was going to try and set things straight with Bakugo.

Many of the students were walking out of the school and head back home. One of those students was walking alone on the side of the oustide pavement, staring at the ground with his hands stuffed in his pockets and still churning with rage over the day's events. He didn't matter what it would take: he'd prove himself as the best student and surpass the bowl-haired loser!

"Hey Bakugo." The teenager turned around and saw the esper looking at him with his eyebrows slightly furrowed, clearly irritated about something.

"What do you want, bowl-cut?"

The esper softened his expression, wanting to try and settle this with as little conflict as possible. "I wanted to talk to you, go over what happened today."

"Oh?" The fiery teenager's neck veins throbbed, and he felt his muscles tighten in anger. "You wanna gloat about your first-place spot on the tests today, talk about how you beat me in all of the tests."

"No, I-" The young esper's voice was cut off when the blonde-haired teenager walked up to him and looked down on Mob with his typical hate-filled eyes and angry grimace. "Don't think for one second that what happened here today and at the practical exam makes you better than me. Your powers may have gotten you more points on both tests, but I'm gonna show you that my training and experience with my powers far exceed yours or anyone else's at this school!"

"No." The explosive student frowned when he saw Shigeo shake his head. "Just because I have these powers, that I performed better than you on the test, that doesn't mean make me better than you or anyone else."

And with that, Bakugo was completely taken off guard. His head flinched backward, and his eyebrows squished together. This shock was very similar to how All Might had first reacted when Shigeo had displayed how humble the esper was about his abilities. For Bakugo, however, this statement was too outlandish, too extraordinary to be coming out of someone as strong as Shigeo, so his next reaction was to assume the esper was lying.

"You're mocking me, trying to say this bullshit to just make me feel even crappier about my loss and make yourself look even better, aren't you!"

"Is that what you think?" Mob slowly shook his head. "That's not what I'm trying to do here, and what I'm saying doesn't just apply to me. You think that just because you have a good quirk, that makes you better than others, but you're wrong."

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" A direct threat to Bakugo's pride and identity he'd established caused the teenager to get physical and grab the esper by the shirt collar, eliciting a nervous gulp from Shigeo.

The esper continued to make his point. "You think that having a quirk is what defines people, and because your quirk is stronger than others, that means you're better than others as well, but that's not true. There are so many other skills and abilities that people who don't have quirks possess, and you can't realize that. Pretty soon, you'll find someone who's better than you in something important, and when that time comes, your quirk won't be any help."

"WHY YOU!" The explosive teenager curled his hand into a fist, ready to strike the Mob across the face, when he noticed that several of the students had stopped to look at the scene unfold. The rational side of him, even if it was relatively small, knew fighting Shigeo on school property would likely get him into serious trouble, and getting into such trouble on the first day compounded the detrimental effect. Besides, staying at this school to be the best hero was more important to Bakugo than punching this nerd in the face.

Bakugo silently unclenched his fist and let go of his grip on Shigeo. The rage-driven teenager was about to give a nasty remark, but Mob spoke up before Bakugo could open his mouth to speak. "That also reminds me of something else."

Bakugo felt his posture stiffen when he saw the features on Mob's face harden and his eyebrows furrow down.

"Don't use your powers against other people."

Even the intimidating Bakugo couldn't help but feel slightly unnerved by the iciness interwoven with malice in his voice. "I saw how you were ready to attack Midoriya with your quirk. Using your power to hurt others, it's wrong."

"Listen up." Bakugo's explosive temper had simmered down to a warm flame, but the teenager's red eyes were still rife with hostility.

"I'm not going to listen to the words of some meek chicken-shit like you. I don't know what kind of stupid philosophy you've got in your head, but someone as soft and idiotic as you is never gonna make it big at this school or as a hero, and I'm not gonna hear another word you have to say. Also, don't act as if you know anything about me or who I am. I'll do whatever I want to become the best student at this school, and not you or anyone else is gonna get in my way." Bakugo lightly shoved Shigeo as his last act of aggression, and then continued his silent walk, his hands shoved into his pockets while tightly clutching the inner fabric.

Alone with his thoughts, he couldn't comprehend what and why the bowl-headed loser said what he said. He initially thought that Shigeo was mocking him, but the fierce resolve in his eyes and the unwavering tone of voice was sincere. He meant every word he said. But what the hell did he mean by that? How could someone with such an astoundingly phenomenal quirk, who got more than 100 villain points on the practical exam, say that his quirk didn't make him better than others? Powerful quirks like his were what gave heroes the power they needed to win, what made everyone admire and worship heroes. That should have been an obvious fact engraved in Shigeo's mind. But why wasn't it? And where the hell did he get the gall to call him inferior or regular? His quirk had power and applications unheard of, even for those with quirks. For Shigeo to deny him the glory that came with such a power was an insult to Bakugo. He'd have to show that to him the hard way!

Shigeo looked on at the angry teenager with a bitter smile. As he expected, Bakugo was in extreme denial about his superiority and fiercely denied Mob's words. The esper was glad it didn't end like it had ended with Hanazawa, but it was still obvious Bakugo would need more time, more convincing. It would be a challenge, but Shigeo had to make sure Bakugo didn't hurt Midoriya, ruin his experience at this school because he constantly threatened or hurt him.

Speaking of Midoriya, Shigeo needed to find him and see how he was doing after being sent to the nurse's office. It was such a relief for Shigeo to know that the school nurse had the power to heal injuries as severe as broken bones, so Izuku wouldn't have to worry about being damaged for months on end or possibly getting permanent damage. That's what he'd been told by All Might, although he didn't go into specifics of how it worked. Mob walked back to the entrance of the school, and quickly spotted Midoriya, although the esper was slightly off-put by Shigeo's drooping arms and tired eyes.

Mob had no way of knowing that this was simply a side-effect of Recovery Girl's quirk. When the fanboy entered her office, he was completely startled and actually a little frightened when he saw her lips extend and plant themselves on Izuku's finger. His finger was restored in seconds, but immediately after, a wave of drowsiness hit him. Recovery Girl explained that her quirk stimulated the body's natural healing process, but doing this still took a lot of energy. Furthermore, she told him that too many grievous injuries would require an excessive amount of stamina be expended, which would actually result in his death.

Shigeo was about to greet him, but Iida beat him to the punch: approaching from behind him, the blue-haired teenager grasped his fellow student's shoulder. Izuku turned around and jerked his head back. "Hey Iida, what's up?"

"Is your broken finger fully healed?"

"Yep. Recovery Girl fixed it in no time."

"What a relief." Both teenagers looked up and saw Shigeo walk up with a slow smile creeping up on his face. "Hello there, Iida."

"Ah, Kageyama. I must commend you on your first-place victory for today's tests. I never imagined that your quirk would be so utilitarian."

Shigeo's eyebrow raised up in confusion, which Iida quickly detected. "Utilitarian..."

"It refers to something that can be used in multiple ways."

"Oh, thanks." The bowl-haired esper shifted topics, something he almost always did when it came to compliments about his powers. "Still, Mr. Aizawa was really morbid and serious."

"Indeed. I was put off by his behavior as well, but in the end, I place my trust in the school's judgement." Iida crossed his arms while closing his eyes. "Even so, lying like that is downright immoral. Going to such lengths to trick us is simply cruel."

"HEY, you three!" The jubilant voice of a bobbed-haired girl rang out to the three males. They turned around and saw Uraraka sprinting towards them with a wide smile across her face.

"If you're all going to the station, I'll come with you."

All three of them recognized the girl upon seeing them. "You're the infinity girl, correct?" exclaimed Iida.

"The name's Ochaco Uraraka. And your names..." The young girl rotated her head to face the tall bespectacled teenager. "You're Tenya Iida." Uraraka next looked at Shigeo, who met her eyes with a small smile in response. "Shigeo Kageyama."

"And your name is Deku... Midoriya?" The bowl-haired child's small smile morphed into a frown, while Izuku tensed up in surprise. "Deku?"

"Yea, that's what Bakugo called you during the fitness test."

The fanboy felt mild color stain his cheeks while he tried to explain to his new friend what that was all about. "Actually, my name's really Izuku. Deku is what Kacchan calls me to ridicule me."

Shigeo gripped his wrist. "It's just a rotten move by Bakugo to try and bring Izuku down."

"Oh..." Uraraka reached her hand behind her head and closed her eyes in embarrassment. "I didn't realize that, sorry."

The young girl opened her eyes and decided to tell her opinion on the name. "Actually, I think Deku's a pretty cool name. It sounds like a really great hero name, and it's kinda cute too."

Izuku's heart pumped with emotion, and his face flushed into a deeper red.

"Deku it is, then!"

Shigeo was taken aback for a second by his friend's sudden acceptance of his name, but could clearly piece his friend's flustered reaction of flattery mixed together with the fact that this was one of the first girls he ever talked to.

"Just like that," exclaimed Tenya, "You were just saying a second ago that it was an insult."

Unable to give him a proper response, the young teenager covered his hands over his face and mumbled to himself, and the young girl gave Izuku a puzzled look. Once more, Shigeo could see himself reflected in his friend, his nervousness and easily embarrassed nature, serving to show how much Shigeo had grown. The esper smiled and patted his friend on the back, leading to Izuku removing his hands from his face. When Izuku saw Shigeo smiling at him, the redness in his face began to fade.

"Let's all go on to the station."

"Definitely," replied Uraraka.

"Of course. I must be at the station in 20 minutes, so let's make sure to keep a good pace." The four students began their walk to the station, all of them beaming with delight. For Izuku, he was happy to know that he'd begun to make some new friends at this school, and despite all of the inexperience he still had with One for All, he was getting some progress at least. Similarly, Shigeo was pleased to see that Izuku was making some new friends as well. He understood all-too-well the pain that came with loneliness and a lack of friends, and while Izuku had Shigeo, it was good to see that Izuku was expanding his friend group. On top of that, the esper himself was pleased to know that he'd acquainted himself with his fellow students and begun to create bonds of friendship. With such a tumultuous day, things were looking bright for both teenagers, and hopefully, they'd continue being bright tomorrow.

* * *

**Boom! As expected, Bakugo was furious at both Izuku and Shigeo, not liking what either of them bring to his life. Also, the reason why I've had Mob take a liking to Momo is precisely BECAUSE she's the popular and pretty girl. It's sort of a parallel to how Shigeo fell for Tsubomi, literally the most popular and most crushed-on girl at his school. And besides, it's still high school: it's only natural to feel attracted to the pretty girl.**

** But how're things gonna go with all three of them in the same class? Are they gonna get worse? Is Shigeo going to have a larger impact on Bakugo? Is he gonna change him for the better? You'll have to see the answers in the next chapter of 100 Percent Hero!**


	10. The Reawakening

**Here we are again! Now we'll get to see how Shigeo Kageyama does on the next day of school with his friends and his guardian!**

* * *

Now alone to reflect on the day's events, the prodigious esper looked back at the encounters he had with the other students. With Bakugo, he'd already gotten a pretty good understanding of how he viewed the world and the superiority complex he held. It was unfortunate that he'd been forced into this delusion of superiority, and more importantly, that this mindset was directly affecting Izuku. He didn't want his friend to be put down and tormented during his time at U.A. High, and Bakugo was threatening him with physical violence. Hopefully, no more incidents would arise and Izuku could go to school with his mind at ease.

Besides Bakugo, his mind also went to the other students he'd come across in the class. Iida seemed to be a very serious yet well-intentioned young student who wanted to excel in this high school, while Uraraka was a vibrant and joyful soul who displayed great kindness towards others. These were the two students who he'd gotten to interact with the most, and he hoped he'd be able to have good interactions with them in the future.

Shigeo entered the apartment and was greeted with the sight of All Might sitting at his desk and typing diligently on his laptop. The symbol of peace heard the door open and greeted the esper with a smile. "Hey, Kageyama!"

"All Might!" Mob returned the smile and threw his backpack on the couch. "How was your first day as a teacher?"

The number one hero nervously laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "To be honest, I didn't really do any teaching. Today was really just getting acquainted with the school, the facilities and the teachers. I found out that not only are you and Midoriya in the same class, but that you also have Aizawa as your homeroom teacher."

Shigeo's eyes went down to the floor, and he let out a small sigh. "I'm not really fond of him. He was really harsh with all of the students, especially Midoriya."

Toshinori's smile faltered, and he craned his head up to look at the ceiling. "I know. I managed to get a glimpse of the tests your class took, and just as I feared, Aizawa singled out Midoriya from the start."

"Oh, you saw the tests?" exclaimed the esper, "Then did you also see how Midoriya did?"

"Yes, I saw his performance on the ball throw and his very impressive utilization of One for All. And I was also very impressed to see your number one spot on the tests."

"How long will it be until Midoriya won't break his bones anymore?" said Shigeo, immediately disregarding All Might's compliment towards him and focusing on his friend, "I know you said it would take a while, but right now, he's at such a big disadvantage." The esper bent his neck in dread, "I tried to help him by giving him some of my energy, but he refused, and he broke his finger because of it. Why didn't he just accept the energy?"

"Simple: for Midoriya, taking that energy was the equivalent of cheating. Midoriya is someone who wants to do things the right way, and for him, the right way is strengthening his body to fully master One for All."

That explanation didn't serve to relieve any of Shigeo's concerns, and the psychic held his elbows tightly against his sides. "Does that mean there's nothing you or me can do to help him get stronger?"

The symbol of peace pulled in and slowly released a deep breath. "Midoriya has a long and arduous road ahead of him, a road that he has to travel on himself. Sadly, the most either of us can do for him right now is be there to lend him our ears, our emotional support, and more physical training." Toshinori could see the teenager's look of despondency and gave him one of his trademark smiles, not wanting to end this conversation on such a dismal note. "But don't worry yourself so much. Mastery will come to Midoriya eventually, and besides, Recovery Girl will be there to heal his wounds."

"I guess..." The esper slipped his hands into his pockets and walked into the kitchen to get some snacks. It was quite a relief to know that the school nurse had such an impressive power that could heal at such a fast rate, and for now, it seemed that would be enough for his friend. Even so, it was still sad to see Izuku hurt himself so grievously. Maybe tomorrow would be slower-paced and less focused on using quirks. The esper had no idea how wrong he was.

* * *

"Now which of these four sentences contains a mistake?"

At U.A. High, Class 1-A was spending their morning with Present Mic, who happened to be their English teacher. While this high school was focused on becoming a hero, that didn't mean that they could simply ignore other important classes and material, which was why they had a list of core classes for all the first years. Many of the students felt their eyes droop from the early morning tiredness compounded with such a boring class.

Present Mic noticed the tired expressions and tried to wake the class up. "Hey you guys, come on now! Try and shake yourselves up! Grammar rules!" While many of them were barely paying attention, a few of the other students were trying to stay focused on the class. Two of those people were Shigeo and Izuku. The green-haired teenager smiled, being able to quickly deduce the sentence with the error, while the bowl-haired teenager was rapidly blinking, fidgeting with his pencil while he went over each of the questions.

Mob honestly wanted to try and stay focused: now that he'd gotten the strong body he'd always wanted, one of the next steps in his path to improvement was to become smarter and more experienced with schoolwork. Sadly for the esper, almost all of his effort these past months had been focused on strengthening and left little room for efficient studying for his online school, which was why he was hopelessly lost on this question.

"Yea, Yaoyarozu! Lay it on us!" Shigeo turned his head and drew a faint and stifled gasp: it was the same girl who'd caught his eye.

"The last sentence has an incorrect relative pronoun."

"Boo-yah! You got it!" The psychic teenager sucked in a quick breath. It looked like this girl Yaoyarozu was a pretty solid student. It might take a little more time to figure out how smart she really was, but from what he could see of her right now, it looked as though she was able to handle all of this with relative ease. Hopefully, he'd be able to manage his classes with such ease one day.

* * *

Once the morning classes had finished up, all of the students filed their way to the lunchroom. Shigeo was impressed by the spacious area, the multiple windows that showed the luscious shrubbery and beautiful morning sun shining down on the school and . through the lunchroom. It was much better than the lunchroom back at Salt Middle School. Then again, this was the number one hero school, after all, so it only made sense for them to have such amazing facilities.

The esper and the formerly quirkless teenager sat together with the two friends they'd made the day before. As they sat down and finished their food, they were approached by some sort of chef with a mask covering his face. While the other three merely looked him with blank eyes, Izuku gasped and covered his mouth with his hands. He knew who this was! This was the cooking hero, Lunch Rush! He was famous for creating a full-course French meal for ten thousand victims of a typhoon, and he was revered in the hero world for his amazing culinary skills.

"White rice is the perfect comfort food, isn't it?"

Uraraka, who had a bowl of white rice in her hand, nodded in agreement while she savored the fresh taste of rice in her mouth. "This is really tasty. I've never had rice made so well before." The chef gave the girl the thumbs up before he went back to the kitchen to prepare more meals for the hungry students. Shigeo similarly found the food to be not only tasty but very rich in variety. The more time he spent at this school, the more he understood why it held such a prestigious title. As the esper continued eating and conversing with his friends, he wondered what other surprises the school might bring.

* * *

After lunch, Class 1-A went to their afternoon class: hero basic training. Many of the students were rocking in their seats, holding the edges of the chair with eager anticipation. After a morning of boring classes that they hope would've just been left behind with their previous middle schools, the students could finally get some actual hero training. More importantly, they'd all seen that All Might would be teaching at U.A. High this year: if they were lucky, he would be teaching this class.

Alas, while all of the other students were excited for the start of this class, one teenager was shifting uneasily in his seat. Unlike the other students, Shigeo had no true interest in such hero training classes, nor was he eager for the chance to see All Might, given that he'd lived alongside him for ten months. More importantly, the esper's main thoughts were centered on how Izuku would fare in this class. Shigeo looked at his friend while scratching his skin.

"What's gonna happen to you?" muttered Mob.

"I am HERE!"

Izuku's face lit up, his cheeks brightened with amazement while his eyes sparkled with excitement. The symbol of peace stood on the tips of his toes, his chest stretched out and his arms reached back in an attempt to make a good first impression. "Coming through the door like a hero!"

For this class, the number one hero decided to change things up a little with his clothing. He wore a skin-tight red bodysuit with multiple white markings all over the upper arms and chest. His forearm sleeves and his boots were covered in gold and had spiked fins on the sides. He wore a blue cape with a dark red interior secured by two metal latches. When the class finally got to see All Might up-close for the first time, all of the students had similar reactions to Midoriya, gasping in amazement while thanking God for making the number one hero their teacher.

"Oh my god, it's him! It's really All Might!"

"This is gonna be the best year ever!"

"I think I might ask for his autograph after class is done!"

"Hey, he's wearing his silver age costume!"

"Man, really? That's so retro!"

Everyone in the room except for Shigeo shared the same shock at getting to see the symbol of peace for the first time, although for Shigeo, he wasn't quite expecting to see All Might wearing a different costume. From what he'd seen, All Might would usually come home wearing a different costume with a blue bodysuit and no cape. Guess he'd chosen to change styles as time went on.

All Might stood at the center of class with his hands firmly at his sides, his aura of confidence and power emanating throughout the entire classroom. "Welcome students to the most important class of U.A. High! In this class, all of your lessons will revolve around the basics of being a pro-hero, how to fight as a hero, and what it actually means to serve justice! So let's not waste our first class cooped up in this cramped classroom!" The number one hero took out a card from the inner pocket of his costume, which said "battle".

"Today's class will be a full-out practice of acting as a hero, and that means no pulling any punches!"

Bakugo's eyes widened and glowed with a deep-seeded excitement, his wicked smile reaching the corners of his ears. "Fight training! YES!" The hot-headed teenager was waiting for this opportunity! With all of the training and effort he'd put into honing his quirk, Bakugo knew that this would be the best chance to prove his superiority and truly shine as the best student in this class and in this school.

Kageyama and Midoriya, on the other hand, instantly felt a sense of nausea and an empty feeling in the pits of their stomaches. Actual combat training? What did that mean? What kind of fighting were they going to do? For Midoriya, he was not confident in fighting anyone with the level of mastery he had over One for All now! He could only use his power once before destroying himself, and more importantly, he couldn't use that kind of brute strength against anyone! It would kill them!

For Kageyama, there were two main concerns: first, like Midoriya, he was worried about how his friend would be able to handle himself in such a situation, knowing how limited his current abilities were. Secondly, the idea of using his own psychic powers against others was sickening to him! Although he'd gradually adjusted his mindset so that he'd only use his powers against enemies who couldn't be reasoned with, that was only as a last-resort he hated to use. But to use those powers against his fellow students? He just couldn't!

All Might continued. "However, it's important to remember that one of the key factors in being a hero is looking good in battle!" The symbol of peace pointed to the wall, and suddenly, multiple panels began to file out, each of them having a number in descending order. "These costumes were created for you based on the requests you made on your quirk registration form before you started school."

The students yelled out in excitement, surprised to see that the school had managed to make their costumes so quickly. "Once you all get your costumes on, meet me at training ground beta!"

"Yes sir!"

* * *

When the students went to the changing room, many of them took their sweet time to look over their costumes and all of the extra accessories they'd requested. For some of them, the costumes they built had key functions that could boost their quirks or allow them to use their quirks more easily. Many of them had taken a lot of time in trying to find the right costume and right accessories that would best fit them. However, for one teenage boy, he barely batted an eye as he took out his costume. The costume consisted of a white jumpsuit, a black belt adorned with a gold buckle. His sleeves were charcoal black, complimenting the dark black lines on his shoulders. His pants and his boots were were also black, with the lower leggings being a fierce crimson shade.

The Symbol of Peace patiently waited for the students with his arms at his sides and his smile still shining. He wondered how his students had decided to choose their hero costumes. All Might had to admit, finding the right costume was a somewhat difficult and annoying task, but surely his class could find the proper designs for themselves.

Toshinori picked up on the sound of footsteps echoing through the tunnel in front of him. Walking out first was Shigeo Kageyama, who was looking as expressionless as always. Following behind him was the rest of the class, each of them looking confident and rather pleased with how their hero costumes had turned out.

"They say clothes make the man, and here before me stands proof! Take this to heart! From now on, you're all heroes-in-training!"

The teenagers crowded around the number one hero, all of them remaining and silence while observing how their peers looked with their costumes. The powerful esper was among those observers, although he was not particularly impressed by anything he'd seen thus far, not having an avid interest for these aspects of heroism in general.

But then, he felt a surge of heat rise to his face when he got a glance at Yaoyarozu: her hero costume consisted of a high-collared, sleeveless crimson leotard with silver lines at her waist and around her arms, exposing her skin from her neck to just below her navel. Shigeo had never seen so much exposed skin of a girl in his life, and to see the girl who he'd initially been smitten by standing before him like this was causing his heart to beat like a drum.

Not wanting to stare like this any longer, the young esper forced his eyes away and tried to calm himself.

While most of the class had already gathered, there was still one more student who was sprinting through the tunnel to reach them. The formerly quirkless teenager had spent quite a bit if time in the changing room, for unlike the other students, this costume was hand-made by his mother.

In an attempt to show him her pride in the young teenager, Izuku's mother had gone out of her way to make the hero costume her son had made sketches of in his notebook. While the costume itself wasn't particularly flashy or remarkable, it was still a very meaningful costume, and he would wear it with pride!

When Midoriya exited the tunnel, Uraraka was the first to notice him, and beamed when she saw his costume. "Hey Deku! I'm loving your costume! It's pretty plain, but it's still a really good style!"

"Uraraka!" In an almost identical fashion to Shigeo, the green-haired teenager stammered, his face, neck, and ears feeling impossibly hot. Izuku covered his mouth with his hands to make sure nothing stupid would come out, because his brain was about to be fried. Her hero costume consists of a black full-body suit with a pale pink design down the middle of her torso, two black circles on her chest and a black rectangle below her waist, running between her legs. The costume left little breathing room, and Izuku could see every trace of her body.

Uraraka knew this all-too-well, and rubbed the back of her head while her cheeks became mildly stained. "I wish I'd been more detailed when I made my costume request: this suit is skin-tight, not really what I had in mind."

While Uraraka displayed admiration of Izuku's costume, All Might wasn't so keen to give compliments. The symbol of peace knew this kid was a big fan-boy, but this was getting to be a bit ridiculous: he wore a mask with a makeshift smile and long ear-like protrusions that heavily resembled All Might's appearance.

"Ok then, everybody's here!" All Might attempted to bring the focus of the students so they could get started as soon as possible. "Now starts our combat training exercise!

"When it comes to combating villains, you've probably seen a lot of televised fights taking place on the streets. In actuality, statistics show you're much more likely to fight your battles indoors. Think about how many illegal activities go on indoors: backroom deals, home invasions, secret lairs. For the truly dangerous and crafty villains will know to stay hidden in the shadows. For this exercise, you will all be split into teams of heroes and villains and conduct two-on-two battles."

"Are you sure this is the best idea?" Once again, the first student to speak out was Shigeo Kageyama, who was already disliking where this was going. "Fighting each other with quirks like this, is this really the best way to improve as heroes?"

For a second, All Might tensed up. Being a teacher for the young esper was rather awkward, considering how much time they'd spent together and how they lived under the same roof. The hero could see the uncertainty and mild disapproval in Kageyama's eyes. Normally, whenever Shigeo had a face like that, he would have a longer talk with the esper and get to know why he was feeling so averse to the idea of combat, understanding how much Shigeo relied on his wisdom for emotional support. However, in this setting, All Might was his teacher, and this was not the time or place to try and talk more deeply with the esper.

"The best training and experience is what you get on the battlefield! It is something you'll all have to experience one day, so it's better to prepare yourselves now and get the proper experience you need. This time, however, it's not as easy as punching robots!"

With this limited explanation time, many more students already had an onslaught of questions.

"Are you responsible for deciding the victor?" exclaimed Yaoyarozu.

"How much can we hurt the other team?" said Bakugo, causing Shigeo to flinch at the question and the features of anger on his face.

"Do we need to worry about the losers being expelled like with Mr. Aizawa?"

"Will our teams be decided based on chance or comparative skill?"

All Might was overwhelmed by the number of questions being bombarded onto him, and several sweat beads fell down his face while he clenched his fists in annoyance. "Let me finish, would you," muttered the hero.

Toshinori grabbed a small piece of paper with all of the details of the exercise from one of his inner pockets and unfolded it.

"Alright, here's the situation: the villains have gotten their hands on a powerful nuclear device and hidden it in their hideout. The heroes must infiltrate the hideout and foil their plans. To do that, the heroes must either catch the evildoers or get their hands on the nuclear weapon. In order for the villains to win, they must protect their payload or capture the heroes."

The symbol of peace grabbed a lot box with ten pairs of different letters. "We will decide our teams by drawing lots!"

"Hold on, are you sure random selection is the best way to select our teams?" stated Iida, "Is there not a better option?"

"Think about it," said Midoriya, "Heroes from different agencies usually run across each other when fighting villains and have to work together on the spot, so it'd make sense if we have to deal with similar circumstances for this exercise."

"Ah, I see. In life, we often have to deal with random events and do our best to adapt and work past those events with the tools and people we have." The blue-haired teenager bowed to the number one hero. "Excuse my rudeness, teacher."

"Don't worry about it. Now let's draw! We'll do it in a single-filed line!"

The teenagers all piled together in this line and drew from the lot box. The next minute was a mess, all of the students clamored together while trying to figure out which team they were on.

The teenage esper had chosen the letter C from the slot box and was among the throbbing mass of teenagers, trying to figure out who he was paired up with.

"Who's got C?"

"I picked C!" Shigeo swerved his head towards the voice of his partner, and he felt like his entire body had frozen up. There was no way: his partner was Yaoyorozu. What kind of ridiculous chance could there have been that the girl who'd first captured his attention would be his partner?

Yaoyorozu was similarly surprised to see that the young esper would be her partner, her eyes widening in surprise. The onyx-eyed teenager quickly got over the shock and walked up to Shigeo. "So we're going to be partners then?"

Overtaken by embarrassment and the irony of this partnership, all he could do was slowly nod his head up and down.

"I have to say, your performance in the quirk apprehension tests yesterday was quite remarkable. While I have to admit I was slightly envious being in second place at first, that will have no effect on our cooperation abilities." Yaoyorozu's lips curved up, only serving to further increase the heat in the esper's cheeks. "I'm confident we'll win with our abilities, regardless of whether we're heroes or villains."

"Ok..." This was barely audible to Yaoyorozu, for the young esper was still trying to contain himself and his emotions. The female teenager's lips curved down, not quite understanding what was causing Shigeo to be so tight-lipped. Was it something she said?

In a rather fitting stroke of irony, Izuku Midoriya's partner for this training exercise was none other than Ochaco Uraraka, working together as Team A. The bob-haired teenager lit up with excitement and surprise, relieved to know she'd be fighting alongside someone she liked and had gotten to know for a while now.

"Can you believe it? Who would've thought we'd be teamed up for this exercise?" Like Shigeo, the young green-haired student felt his cheeks flaring, his hand grasped over his mouth. The odds of such a pairing for this exercise was quite extraordinary, but Izuku wasn't objecting by any means.

"I have to make a good impression on her!" Izuku thought.

In a rather bad match-up, though, Team D consisted of Bakugo and Iida, both of whom were not fond of each other and whose personalities mixed together very poorly.

Once everyone had found their partners, All Might retrieved two boxes, one white with the word "hero" on the front, the other black with the word "villain".

"The first two teams to fight will be-" The symbol of peace dug his hands into the boxes and picked the two letters that Shigeo had desperately hoped wouldn't be paired together.

"Team A will be the heroes, and Team D will be the villains! Everyone else will go to the monitoring room!"

"Yes sir!"

Izuku's mouth began to lose its saliva while his heart began to beat rapidly. The verdant-eyed teenager never thought that his opponent would be his childhood friend. Midoriya knew what kind of incredible power he had, the unbelievable anger he held towards him, and knew how little he wielded in comparison.

Midoriya found the courage to look over at Bakugo, and sure enough, the hot-headed teenager's eyes were dead set on the teenager. His crimson eyes were sharp, focused with cold-blooded anger. It looked like Bakugo had gotten lucky with his opponents. Deku couldn't hold a candle to him. Hell, even an angry gaze from Bakugo was enough to unnerve him.

But Izuku Midoriya was not the same meek child as he was ten months ago. Instead of cowering in fear, the formerly quirkless teenager clenched his fist, furrowing his eyebrows and meeting Kacchan's hardened gaze with his own determined expression. No, he wouldn't cave into fear from just a look. He refused.

The blonde student flinched in disbelief. Deku actually had the nerve to look at him like that? Did he actually think he'd become better than Bakugo? The idea caused the blonde-haired teenager to clench his teeth and let out a small portion of his famous anger.

"Hey." Bakugo swerved his head to find the bowl-haired nerd giving him an even more steely and more aggressive gaze. Izuku's heartbeat raced even faster than before: what was his friend doing?

With only that single look Bakugo had just given, Mob knew that the hot-headed teenager didn't take in anything from what he heard yesterday. That chill traveling down his spine when he heard the teams was well-warranted: if they were going to do actual combat simulation, did that imply the fighters could do whatever they wanted? Surely there would be at least SOME kind of limits! There was no way that anything would go! But if there weren't, then what would Bakugo do to his friend? Would he use his powers to badly hurt Midoriya? The very thought both frightened and angered Mob.

If it was Mob being attacked, the way Hanazawa had mercilessly pummeled him when they first met, that was one thing. He could take that kind of abuse. But imagining Bakugo inflicting a similar punishment to his friend who could barely defend himself, who couldn't truly call upon his powers to protect him from those fierce explosions? That was unacceptable!

"Listen here, Bakugo." The testosterone-fueled teenager felt the temperature drop around him. The esper's eyes sharpened into daggers, and even the prideful, seemingly fearless Bakugo could not help but slightly recoil. "If you hurt him badly, you'll regret it."

The bowl-haired esper didn't want to go any further and left the silenced Bakugo to join the rest of his class. Watching the scene play out, the other three students and the teacher were astonished by Shigeo's sudden change of attitude and harsh expression. None of them had ever seen the esper act so serious before: from what they'd seen, he was usually composed and rather indifferent to everything going around him.

For Izuku and All Might especially, it was quite the shock to see his friend get so worked up. A part of Midoriya felt flattered to know that his friend was so defensive on his behalf, that his safety meant that much to him. Even so, Izuku didn't want his friend to do something drastic that could cost him his status as a student at U.A. High. Midoriya wasn't worth that kind of a punishment.

For a second, the explosive student thought of yelling to the bowl-haired esper, of reminding him what he'd told him yesterday about not telling him what to do. But at the last second, he decided to hold it back, albeit with tremendous difficulty. No, Bakugo had more important things to worry about right now: he could deal with the bowl-haired loser later.

"Villains, enter the building so you can prepare yourselves. You have five minutes until the heroes infiltrate the hideout and the battle starts."

"Yes sir!"

Bakugo and Iida made their way into the urban building, but not before All Might could give them his final suggestions. "Young Iida, young Bakugo! The key to succeeding this challenge is to embody villainy! Change your thought process to that of an evildoer."

"Understood," replied Iida. The blonde teenager gave one last look at Deku, who was staring at his empty glove while thoughts raced through him. Bakugo bore his teeth and growled with fury. He'd get the better of him for sure!

* * *

The two teenagers made it to the top of the hideout. Inside, the hallways were dimly lit, making navigation slightly more difficult. At the top floor, there was a large gray room with florescent lighting brightening the area. Multiple barrels, stone slabs, and other construction materials were littered around the floor. Standing out was the large black device that stood almost as high as the ceiling.

"So this is the device we're going to be protecting then?" Iida approached the large device and tapped it with his knuckles, hearing echoes reverberate through the empty interior. "Obviously fake. Although it pains me to be aligned with criminal activity, it seems we have no choice. As All Might said, it's necessary in order to succeed."

"Hey." Bakugo called out to his teammate while staring at the exit. "Do you really think Deku has a quirk?"

"You saw it yourself when he threw that ball yesterday, yet his power deals great damage to his body." The spectacled teenager was surprised that he still hadn't accepted Deku's powers. What was making him so averse to the notion that Midoriya had a quirk? Iida couldn't help but voice his confusion.

"What causes you to become so angered with Midoriya?"

The blonde teenager gave no reply, too caught up in his own thoughts and fury. Was it really true? Did Deku really have a quirk that he kept secret all this time? The explosive teenager's pupils dilated, his mouth forming a wicked smile.

"I'm gonna roast that damn nerd today!"

* * *

After the villain team entered the hidout and All Might gave the hero team a map of the building, the symbol of peace made his way to the monitoring room. However, when Toshinori walked through the entrance to the monitoring room building, he was quickly greeted by Shigeo standing at the side of the entrance.

All Might flinched. "Oh, Kageyama. Didn't expect to see you waiting here."

"Sorry, I just wanted the chance to talk to you alone."

"I suppose, but make it quick. The first match is going to start soon."

"I'm just..." The esper rubbed his arm and brought his eyes to the ground. "I'm worried about Midoriya. You saw how angrily Bakugo was staring at him. What if he uses his powers to hurt him badly? I mean, I tried to tell him not to use his powers so dangerously just now, but I don't think it really stuck with Bakugo."

All Might could see why this would be a troubling issue for young Kageyama: the hero could also see Bakugo's extremely aggressive nature, particularly towards Midoriya. "I can understand your concern. If things do get out of hand, I'll immediately stop the fight."

Shigeo let out a large sigh of relief and felt some of the weight being lifted off of his shoulders. "Thank you, All Might."

"Now come. The rest of the class is waiting for us." Mob nodded and walked down the hallway of the building. In the dimly lit corridor, they followed the door entrance with the faint glow of monitoring screens shining out of the room.

All of the class was huddled around the screens, looking at the fighters from the multiple cameras placed throughout the building. In addition to monitors, there was also a podium with an earpiece, a microphone, a clipboard and a pen meant for All Might. They turned to see All Might enter with Kageyama trailing a few steps behind him, perplexing a few of the students who hadn't noticed his momentary absence.

"What were you doing just now?" asked the golden-haired student, Denki Kaminari.

Mob momentarily froze up, not prepared for such a question. He struggled to find the proper answer for the moment, but fortunately, All Might was there to bail him out. "He was just waiting for me so I could answer a question he had. Don't worry about it."

Kaminari was fine with the answer, and turned his attention back to the screens. All Might walked up to the monitors and clutched the microphone.

"Ok folks!" The four teenagers preparing to fight heard the hero's booming voice through the sound system. "The indoor combat training has officially begun! Team A and Team D, get a move on!"

"Now pay attention, kids. Try to picture yourselves in this situation and imagine what you'd do, because you'll all have to do this very soon." The symbol of peace dropped the microphone and equipped the earpiece to listen in on the battle. While he had a strong bond with Midoriya just as he did with Kageyama, that could not factor into his assessment. Like Kageyama, Midoriya was only a student in this setting.

* * *

Once the four fighters heard All Might's voice telling them to start, Midoriya and Uraraka wasted no time infiltrating the building. After analyzing the map, they entered through a small window on the side of the building.

Izuku was leading the way while Uraraka stood behind him, the girl growing slightly nervous at the dark and eery vibe this building gave her. The formerly quirkless teenager, however, was trying to stay strong.

Outside the building, he'd expressed to his teammate how challenging the task ahead of them was. Admitting Bakugo's amazing power, experience, and tenacity, the green-eyed student knew that only meant he'd have to be even greater. That seemed to have impressed Uraraka, and it made Izuku feel good to know he'd made a decent first impression here.

Putting that aside, Izuku mulled over his options. Knowing he couldn't use One for All as it was properly meant, that meant they'd have to rely on Uraraka's Zero Gravity and his fighting knowledge. That was something he'd acquired and honed from all the years he spent studying heroes, taking notes on all of the heroes, their strengths, their weaknesses, proper fighting styles in different settings. It was all in his hero notebook. With that, he'd be able to get the edge in this fight.

The teenager gasped: jumping in front of them with a mad look in his eyes, Kacchan drew his arm back, activating his quirk and attempting to slam his fist into Deku's chest. Fortunately, Izuku was quick enough to grab Uraraka and jump out of the way, although the villain managed to take off half of his mask in the process.

From the surveillance room, Shigeo cringed. So Bakugo had decided to get the jump on Izuku like that? How terrible. What's more, as the smoke cleared, the esper could see the clear fracture in the wall. A single normal punch with his quirk was enough to do such damage? How would his friend fare against that kind of power?

The other students let out gasps of surprise, although some, like Shigeo, weren't too pleased with Bakugo's ruthless behavior either. "So he snuck up on them to catch the two off guard?" said Kirishima, punching into his empty hand, "A real man wouldn't resort to something like that."

"Now now, it's a perfectly valid strategy," replied All Might, "True villains often use sneak attacks to catch heroes off-guard and land some devastating first blows."

Bakugo sprinted up to Midoriya with his quirk ready for action. "I'm not gonna hurt you bad enough that they'll have to cancel the match, but I'll make sure it's close enough!" The teenager launched a right hook, but to his shock, Deku had anticipated the attack and caught his arm.

The green-haired teenager changed the position of his feet so that his back would be facing Bakugo. Then, using Bakugo's own momentum against him, Izuku swung his body down, and with a mighty roar, slammed him into the ground back-first. Kacchan groaned, spitting out saliva and closing his eyes.

In the surveillance room, many of the spectators gasped, especially Shigeo. What did Izuku just do? He'd never seen anything like it: he somehow predicted Bakugo's attack, then countered by using his own movement speed against him! And he didn't even use his quirk!

"That was... incredible." muttered Kageyama, "But how did he do it?"

Likewise, the hot-headed teenager was trying to wrap his brain around what just happened. Deku knew what move he was gonna use, but how?

"You always use a big right hook to start a fight. I know because I've watched you for years." Bakugo arched his eyebrow up while recovering from the attack. "I've spent my time watching the pros, learning how they fight and how their quirks work, including you! All those notes were in the book you decided to burn and throw out the window." Izuku clenched his fist and stared at Kacchan with his bright green eyes and trembling lips.

"You can call me Deku if you want, but the kid you once used to mock, who couldn't defend himself, doesn't exist anymore. You get that?" The teenager tightened his fists, and with his determination, proudly said, "Starting now, Deku is the name of a hero!"

While others, like Uraraka, may have been impressed or dazzled by Midoriya's proud proclamation, Katsuki Bakugo wasn't like everyone else. In fact, Deku's attempt at big talk and trying to look like he was this new brave hero only served to further infuriate the teenager.

Shigeo Kageyama was observing how this exchange between Midoriya and Bakugo was playing out. Although he couldn't hear what they were saying, it seemed as though his friend was trying to stand up to Bakugo, somehow show he wasn't afraid.

The esper sighed: the relationship between these two was really rocky indeed.

* * *

_"I can't believe Bakugo almost attacked you." _

_Izuku and Shigeo were both standing together at the train station: after the four students had reached their destination, they parted ways and went off to find the train lines they'd be taking home. For the two training partners, they had at least ten minutes before the next train would arrive to pick them up, giving them some time to talk about the day's events. For Shigeo, the violent childhood friend of Izuku was one of the first things he decided to bring up._

_"It's something he does pretty often," replied Izuku, "Even when were kids, he'd use his quirk more than other students, showing it off to his friends or using it to intimidate others." _

_"He shouldn't have been allowed to do that. He's let the power of his quirk go to his head, given him so much self-confidence that when I even hinted that his power didn't make him special, he freaked out."_

_"Wait, what?" Izuku didn't get what Mob meant. "What're you talking about?"_

_"Just before you came out of the school and were greeted by Iida, I talked to Bakugo and went over what happened today. I thought I could snap some sense into him, make him change how he viewed himself and not to use his powers against others like he did with you."_

_Izuku was momentarily at a loss for words. "You actually had the guts to go up to Kacchan and tell him he wasn't better because of his powers?"_

_"I tried, but no luck." Midoriya let out a small yelp. The teenager never imagined his friend to be so vocal or confrontational like that. What's more, Izuku felt a few of his heartstrings being plucked, knowing that Mob had gone to such lengths to defend him. _

_"I've told you this before, but from my perspective, Bakugo's just a regular person. His quirk doesn't make him special, and that bloated ego is just holding him back."_

_"Maybe you're right, but..." From the time he'd spent with his friend, the formerly quirkless teenager had learned to take some of Mob's words to heart. He was right when he said there were things quirks couldn't do, things that only other people have and can only be acquired through training, commitment, and repetition. The bodies they'd gained were a testament to that fact. Even so..._

_"I still can't help but think of him as amazing. That confidence he has lets him keep on pushing forward, and his ambition to become a hero also gives him strength. But that's exactly why..." _

_Izuku held his chin up high and looked to his friend with the same fiery passion he'd seen every day they were training. "It's exactly why I have to surpass him! If I'm gonna be a hero, then I have to prove I can match him! One of these days, I'll get that chance, and I'll show Kacchan that I'm not someone who can just be ignored and treated like nothing!" _

* * *

"You've got this, Midoriya," Shigeo muttered under his breath, "Show Bakugo what you can do!"

The esper noticed Bakugo suddenly beginning to talk, although it didn't seem like it was Izuku who he was talking to.

"Who's the guy Bakugo's talking to," Kirishima decided to ask, "I can't hear a thing. Can't you like use the sound system in there to let us hear what they're saying?"

"The person he's talking to is his partner," All Might responded, "I gave one to both of them before the match started, as well as a map of the building. I also gave them this." The number one hero showed the class a small roll of tape from his inner pocket. "A roll of capture tape. If you've wrapped this tape around your opponent, that means you've captured them and they're indisposed for the rest of the match."

"Wait a second," Ashido said, "So there's a fifteen minute time limit for the heroes, and they have no idea which floor the bomb is on. Doesn't that give them a huge disadvantage?"

"Many heroes are forced to work against the clock or are dealt several disadvantages during confrontations with the enemy. Against all those odds," All Might lifted his finger up and swerved his head to face Shigeo. "We must fight on!"

Many of the students cracked smiles, admiring the words of wisdom given to them by the number one hero, but for Shigeo, it was even more meaningful because unlike the other students, he knew exactly what All Might was referring to with those words just now.

Invigorating the class, the symbol of peace lifted his fist into the air. "Now all together!"

The class immediately got the message, and all shouted the motto of U.A. High.

"Let's hear a Plus Ultra!"

Everyone in the room spoke these words together. Well, everyone except Shigeo. The other students saw that their bowl-haired classmate had neither raised his hand or shouted the motto, for he had neither the passion within him, and thanks to his lack of social skills and knowledge, didn't even know what the motto was.

The students pursed their lips and lifted their eyebrows, making the esper's cheeks flush in embarrassment. But their attention was instantly drawn back to the monitors, for Bakugo had decided to make a move. Izuku yelled out, and immediately, Uraraka fled the scene. The students pieced together that Midoriya ordered his teammate to flee while he held Bakugo off himself.

The explosive teenager used his quirk to propel himself forward, and attacked Midoriya with a left kick. The fanboy raised his elbow to block the kick, but the students soon realized Midoriya was already one step ahead: he'd taken the capture tape out and wrapped it around Bakugo's leg.

The arrogant student repeated his previous right hook to incapacitate Bakugo, but somehow, Midoriya had already anticipated the attack and lunged to the side. Kageyama gasped: even though he didn't really enjoy or focus on fighting, he was still amazed to see his friend doing so well. Hell, if Mob were in his shoes, he would've been blown away. He had no idea how to fight, anticipate his opponent's moves, orreact to their attacks.

Unlike the esper, though, All Might was not surprised by what he was seeing. He'd always known Midoriya to be very analytical, quick to react in crisis situations. More impressive was how he'd spent many years taking notes about heroes, learning the best methods of fighting based on how other heroes fought. Those lessons were ingrained in his memory, giving him the knowledge and ability to fight an opponent who looked way out of his league.

The two childhood friends stared each other down in the hallway. The class was waiting in anticipation, seeing who would make the first move and how it would turn out. But then, in an unexpected twist, Midoriya fled into the depths of the building. Bakugo immediately chased after, but was too far away, quickly losing his opponent.

The violent adolescent stopped in the middle of the hallway, yelling out what the class presumed were insults while furiously creating more explosions in his hands.

"My god, never knew someone could get so angry," Kaminari remarked.

"It makes sense, considering how Midoriya was able to anticipate and momentarily fight off Bakugo without even using his quirk." Shigeo voiced his thoughts, causing the other students to tune in to his words. "I'm betting he's never had anyone get the best of him like that, considering how powerful his quirk is and how much confidence he has in himself."

"You make a good point there, Kageyama," said Tsuyu Asui, "You saw how he freaked out yesterday when he couldn't get a better score than you on the ball throw."

"Good observation, Kageyama," added All Might. Shigeo wasn't kidding: the amount of pride Bakugo had was absolutely ridiculous, unlike anything he'd seen before.

"Hey, I think Uraraka's almost found the bomb." One of the students pointed at the monitor with the heroic female, and sure enough, she'd already located Iida and the bomb. Iida was looking at a window while seemingly in self-thought. After a few seconds of waiting behind a pillar to make a move, for some reason, Uraraka let out a laugh, giving her position away to Iida.

"Man, I really wish we could hear what they were saying," said Kirishima, "The suspense is killing me."

Uraraka activated her earpiece to inform her teammate that she'd found the bomb. The students saw Midoriya receive the message, then unrolling the tape.

"It seems like he's preparing to capture Bakugo," Yayorozu theorized, "Although how he'll go about doing that remains unclear."

"Don't think he'll have a lot of time to figure that out. Look!" After several minutes of searching, Bakugo had finally Deku, but what nobody realized was that the hot-blooded student had a bit more in store for his childhood friend this time.

In the building, Bakugo's cold eyes bore into Midoriya. "I'm all loaded up."

Izuku already didn't like where this was going. "What do you mean by that?"

The explosive villain smirked, taking pleasure in the fear Deku was about to be enveloped in. "Being the STALKER you are, you probably already know how my quirk works: I secrete nitroglycerin from my hands and body, which serves as the fuel I use to ignite my explosions. Imagine how much stronger my explosions would be if I had a lot of it."

The green-eyed teenager gasped, widening the wicked smile on Bakugo's face. "You're starting to get the picture? My gauntlets aren't just for show!" The teenager pulled the lever on his right gauntlet back, revealing a hidden pin. "They've been storing up my sweat for one monster blast!" Bakugo put his finger through the pin. This was his perfect chance to blow Deku away!

But then, something happened. For just a single second, the teenager's lips curved down ever-so-slightly, and he barely loosened the grip on the pin. What was causing this minor lapse in his frightening determination?

_"If you hurt him badly, you'll regret it."_

Those menacing words, the icy chill in his voice and the hardened look on his face came back to haunt him. Did he mean what he said? What would the bowl-cut do to him if he went through with this?

As quickly as the thought came, it vanished, and the teenager tightened his grip on the pin. He didn't give two shits about what lame-ass threats that nerd came up with! He could handle him no sweat!

"EAT SHIT, DEKU!"

"No, he's going too far!" Both Toshinori and Shigeo felt their chests grow heavy, and while Shigeo couldn't hear Bakugo's explanation, it was safe to assume whatever he was about to do would be deadly. The number one hero grabbed the microphone to try and stop Bakugo from following through.

"Bakugo, stop! If you pull that pin, it'll kill him!"

At that moment, words were useless: the mad look in his eyes and his evil smile said more than enough. "He'll live if he dodges!"

"NO!"

_71%_

The esper yelled out in terror, watching helplessly as the almost psychotic teenager pulled the pin, releasing a monstrous explosion which destroyed the hallway. The fanboy was unfortunately unable to dodge the explosion as Bakugo had foolishly assured he would, and was soon blown away like paper in the wind. The force of Bakugo's enhanced explosion was enough to smash through the wall of the building and create a huge cloud of smoke that spewed into the sky. Not only that, all of the spectators and the other two fighters were momentarily brought off-balance.

"This is nuts!" exclaimed Kirishima. Yet the power of the explosion was absolutely nothing for the bowl-haired esper: his heart momentarily stopped beating, and his body froze up. Did that...

_82%_

All Might, too, was desperately hoping that his successor hadn't been taken out by that massive blast. "Midoriya, come in! COME IN!"

"I'm... I'm here." The fanboy's drained and weakened voice was music to All Might's ears. The monitoring system switched cameras and showed Midoriya lying on the ground but still visibly breathing. The esper took a massive sigh of relief: thank god he hadn't been killed.

In the damaged room, Izuku worked his way through the pain in his body, having gotten used to pushing through pain from his ten months of nightmarish exercise. "Can he even do that?"

"Hehe... HEHE!" Approaching from the large layer of smoke, Katsuki Bakugo felt like his spirit was dancing. "Man, these gauntlets are fucking amazing! I never knew my explosions could get so strong!"

Midoriya's body began to tremble: his eyes were drenched with fear, and he was stammering, inching back as his childhood friend approached him with almost murderous intent.

"So what're you waiting for? Go on, use your stupid quirk!" The teenager's full body became visible, and Midoriya was only frightened further by the crazed look in his eyes. "No matter what you do, you'll never defeat me!"

In the monitoring room, the teenage esper had had enough. Bakugo had gone way too far with his explosions. If he used another one of those blasts again, his friend might actually be killed.

"All Might, you have to put a stop to this!" Mob rushed up to the teacher's side and placed his hand on All Might's arm. "If this goes on, Bakugo's gonna kill him!"

"No." The esper's grip loosened when All Might met his eyes. "Despite what it looks like, he's not intending to kill Midoriya."

That did very little to calm the esper down.

_87%_

"That doesn't mean he won't try using that blast again, and if he does, who knows what'll happen! I mean, look at Bakugo!" Everyone in the room knew exactly what Shigeo meant: those crimson, sadistic eyes were more than ready to beat Midoriya within an inch of his life.

"Bakugo!" The hero grabbed the microphone to give his warning to Bakugo. "If you used that stored-up power again, this fight will be over, and your team will lose!"

The teenager's wicked smile twisted into a shocked frown. "HUH? What're you talking about?"

"Using such a devastating attack indoors deals heavy damage to the stronghold you're meant to protect! It's a very poor strategy, whether you're a hero or a villain, and it would amount to a massive loss of points."

Mob felt most of his panic leave him: as long as Bakugo couldn't use that strong explosion, he hoped Midoriya wouldn't be seriously injured. Even so, the psychic was still uneasy, unsure of what else Bakugo could do and how much more he could hurt Izuku. Was All Might still going to let this continue, even after seeing just how dead-set Bakugo was on hurting Midoriya?

Sure enough, a large part of All Might's mind was considering putting an end to this now and ensuring Midoriya wouldn't be further damaged. But in his heart, the number one hero knew that Midoriya needed to do this. He NEEDED to overcome this obstacle in order to improve himself.

Bakugo's brain was boiling with indignation! How dare All Might interfere with this! He HAD to beat Deku! The teenager screamed out in rage.

"ALRIGHT, FINE!"

While Bakugo and the spectators were doing there own things, Midoriya was conferring with his teammate: from what she was telling him right now, the bomb was in the floor directly above him. And that meant-

"You good on the plan, Uraraka? Get to the window now!"

Sadly for Midoriya, his moment of distraction gave his enemy enough time to propel himself forward with his quirk, giving the fanboy barely enough time to try and counter.

"WE'LL FIGHT HAND-TO-HAND!"

Izuku could see him closing in: there wasn't enough time to dodge. The teenager clenched his fist. That meant he had to face it head-on!

"Like this!" Midoriya threw his fist, expecting it to clash with Bakugo's. But no, his enemy wasn't that typical. Just before reaching Izuku's fist, the teenager activated his quirk, propelling him over Deku with just enough speed and angle to hover behind him. Then, he activated the quirk on his right hand to keep him midair for just a moment longer while using his left hand to land an explosion to Midoriya's back, eliciting a painful groan from the teenager.

"Whoa!" The spectators did not expect to see such a clever move from Bakugo.

"Huh." One of the students, a male with half of his body covered in ice for whatever reason, his hair colored red on one side and white on the other, was able to analyze what just occurred. "He seems like the head-strong idiot who just blindly charges in, but he's actually more capable than I thought."

Kirishima and Ashido looked at the student with piqued interest. "What're you talking about?"

"He changed his trajectory midair by using his blast to propel himself upward, serving as both a boost and a smokescreen. Impressive."

Yayorozu heard his comment and added onto it. "A feint attack like that would require a strong understanding of the physics, calculation, and how much power he'd need to use. He's clearly thought this through."

Kageyama overheard this explanation, and though slightly impressed by Yayorozu's explanation, he was not impressed by Bakugo's skill with his quirk.

The explosive teenager wasn't finished with Deku. Bakugo grabbed the back of Izuku's shirt, then, using his free hand to activate his quirk and give his throw more momentum, drove Deku into the wall, causing the teenager to yet again yell in agony.

"Midoriya!"

_91%_

"All Might, this can't keep going!" implored Mob.

On the battlefield, Izuku was feeling battered and broken. The pain from those last attacks was adding up, and Kacchan wasn't giving him any time to formulate a strategy.

"Why haven't you used it yet?" Bakugo was fuming, part of him not taking pleasure in this beatdown because he knew Deku wasn't using his full power. "Why've you kept this secret all these years? DID YOU ACTUALLY THINK YOU WERE BETTER THAN ME?"

Izuku's eyes went to the ground, his hands balling into fists. The green-haired fanboy felt his own anger and passion begin to rise up inside. "If that's what you think, then you're an idiot!"

Ever since they were kids, Izuku had always admired his childhood friend for what he could do, the aura of confidence he exuded, and the goals he strived for in life. Even Shigeo's perspective on quirks did not truly change that opinion he held of Katsuki Bakugo.

The formerly quirkless fanboy looked back at Kacchan, tears now welling in his eyes. "You've always been stronger, Kacchan! I've never been better than you!" Instead of being flattered, Bakugo only became more enraged.

"Why can't you see?" Midoriya held his chest up high, the fiery passion he'd used during all his time training giving him renewed strength.

"That's why I want to beat you! BECAUSE YOU'RE AMAZING!"

Bakugo's anger and sadistic excitement combined, serving as his own fuel to fight the nerd in front of him. If Deku really understood that Bakugo was better than him, that only made him even more of an idiot for thinking he could ever surpass him.

"LET'S END THIS!"

Here it was, the climactic finish: two childhood friends, one blessed with a powerful quirk at birth and deluded with his own sense of grandeur, the other born with no quirk but blessed with the support of the number one hero and the quirk he'd earned through his spirit and his perseverance, were finally going to finish this.

Bakugo's right palm was igniting with orange explosions, while Midoriya's right arm was glowing bright red, coursing with the power of One for All. In the monitoring room, Shigeo felt like his heart was about to burst.

_95%_

"All Might!" The esper clutched the hero's arm yet again, but this time, the hero stuttered when he saw the rainbow aura beginning to glow around the esper and his hair stand up, which only happened when he was preparing to unleash his powers. Likewise, the other students were looking at Kageyama with a growing sense of panic.

"STOP THE FIGHT!"

_98%_

Finally, the number one hero had reached his breaking point. If they unleashed their punches, either one of them could be killed.

"BOTH OF YOU, STAND DOWN NOW!"

"URARAKA, NOW!"

"RIGHT!" Several floors above, the youthful heroine grabbed onto one of the pillars and activated her quirk. Iida, who'd made sure to keep the bomb out of Uraraka's grasp, couldn't understand what she was doing. But he would soon find out.

"SMASH!" Katsuki Bakugo didn't realize this, but he'd fallen into his enemy's trap. Baiting him into a final confrontation, Izuku Midoriya instead used this opportunity to go after his true target: the bomb. The fanboy knew he didn't stand a chance against his childhood friend in a one-on-one fight, so this was his alternative.

The new user of One for All slammed his fist upward. The amazing power of his quirk created an immense burst of wind pressure, breaking through multiple floors, shattering multiple windows and sending the debris high into the sky, which is exactly what the heroes had been counting on.

With Uraraka's zero gravity quirk, the teenager lifted the pillar as though it were a baseball bat. But in this game, there was more than one baseball.

"Here it comes: the comet home run!" Uraraka swung the pillar, sending the dozens of chunks of rock flying at Iida.

"In the name of villainy, I demand you stop this!" The blue-haired teenager raised his elbows to defend himself from the onslaught of rocks, just as his enemy had planned. He saw her pink form flying across the air, and by the time he realized what she was doing, it was already too late.

"I got it!" Uraraka was hugging the bomb, leaving Iida to the shock and despair that came as he understood that his team had just lost.

Alas, the shock and despair Iida was feeling was absolutely nothing in comparison to what his teammate was experiencing at this moment. "This... was your plan."

Bakugo was staring up at the devastation caused by Deku's quirk, baffled at the amazing force it unleashed and by how he'd been completely blindsided. "From the very beginning, wasn't it?" The boy's voice was broken and weak, devoid of all of the confidence and pride he had a moment ago.

"You're wrong." Responding with an equally pained and weak voice, Izuku called out to his childhood friend. "I wasn't planning on using it because I..." The smoke from the exchange cleared, and Bakugo could see his friend holding up his arm, which was now reddened and fractured, "I can't handle it. The backlash is too strong, and I can only use it a single time before I'm done. Mr. Aizawa said I was useless, so this was all I could think of."

In an incredibly rare sight, Bakugo's eyebrows furrowed in what looked like a semblance of sadness and pity. Even though he won, Deku was barely standing, not displaying the confidence and pride that should've come with his first victory against him. The last of his strength gone, Midoriya did nothing but slip into the sweet embrace of unconsciousness, leaving Bakugo alone to process his defeat by himself.

Meanwhile, the surveillance room was deathly silent. All of the spectators saw the amazing turn of events, and as they watched the timer finally stop, the heroes reigned supreme. Mob remained frozen, his hand still latched around All Might's arm while the hero remained stunned in silence at the astonishing victory that took place.

"He... did it. THE HEROES WIN!"

The room did not erupt into a grand applause. Instead, the students were also startled by the unpredictable end to this dramatic exercise.

"Man, what a weird way to end this," remarked Kaminari. On the monitors, the spectators saw Uraraka laying on the floor, her sense of balance thrown way off and causing her to vomit while Iida stood beside her, attempting to give her comfort.

"How does the saying go? They may have won the battle, but they lost the war."

"This is a really intense class."

Even if it didn't go the way he was expecting, the number one hero was still pleased to know Midoriya overcame this obstacle and achieved his first victory against Bakugo. Still, the teenager needed to be attended to this instant. "I'm going to call the nurse and get a stretcher for Midoriya. We'll review the exercise in about fifteen minutes."

The symbol of peace ran out of the room, allowing the other students to continue to converse amongst themselves. A few of them noticed, however, that Kageyama was blankly staring at the screen, still remaining in the same position he was just moments ago.

"Yo." The red-haired teenager went up to the esper and clasped his shoulder. "You alright? You look a little shocked, though seeing something as crazy as that would shock anyone."

"Yea, yea," replied Shigeo, still looking at the monitoring screen and only slightly shifting his body, "I'm fine."

The fact of the matter was, the esper wasn't fine. While All Might may have been pleased to see that Midoriya and his team won this exercise and overpowered his childhood friend, Mob's attention was almost entirely elsewhere. This exercise was nothing short of a horror show against Midoriya. The entire time, Bakugo had gone out of his way to pummel Izuku, relentlessly striking him while smiling with a sick, twisted glee.

For Bakugo, this exercise was his time to humiliate Midoriya, degrade him as a hero-in-training and as a person to make himself feel important and ensure he remain superior. He'd completely disregarded Mob's words yet again, and because of that, both of Midoriya's arms were broken and the rest of his body was badly damaged.

Well, if Bakugo thought he would just ignore this, just let this be and say that it was just part of the training exercise, he had another thing coming. No, this time, Mob would be a little more... to the point with his message.

* * *

Bakugo hadn't moved from his spot. The monumental gravity of his defeat was bearing down on his body and mind like a giant anvil. The number one hero stood behind him, watching while the stretcher came and took Midoriya away to Recovery Girl. All Might stared back at Bakugo, seeing how hard he was taking this defeat. It made sense, considering his insanely inflated pride.

The teenager's hand was stretched out, his body trembling from the shock of defeat. All of his attacks had been predicted and countered by Deku. He looked like an idiot and an amateur and actually won the exercise! His thoughts went back to the last words Deku said before their final clash that destroyed the building, and his hand clenched into a fist. Sweat poured down his face. His breathing became more labored, and the veins in his eyes constricted. The rage inside him was like the heat inside a pressure cooker, and the pressure was about to explode.

"If we fought for real, with no restraints, would I lose?"

The symbol of peace gently placed his hand on Bakugo's shoulder, and the teenager gasped. "Keep your cool. We'll go review your work. Win or lose, it's always possible to get something from the experiences of the fight as long as you're open to learning. I'll give you about five or ten minutes or so to collect yourself."

The symbol of peace walked to the hole made by Bakugo's explosion and jumped down. The explosive student took another thirty seconds to calm himself down enough so that he could move. When he did, he slowly walked through the hallway and made his way down the stairs and through the exit.

While walking, his steps were quiet and erratic, his eyes still pointed to the ground. This was too much for Bakugo. Even with his amazing quirk and all his experience with it, Deku still somehow managed to outsmart and overpower him. It was the largest blow he'd been dealt in his life.

Bakugo paced out the front door and prepared to go to the surveillance area, when he abruptly stopped at the sight before him. The bowl-haired nerd was standing a few feet near the entrance, but for some reason, his hair was standing up. His eyes were cold, even colder than they'd been when he'd warned him not to hurt Deku before the match started.

"You and I are gonna have a talk, right now."

The blonde teenager's head recoiled at the calm but deadly tone in his voice. Even with that serious tone, however, Bakugo was in absolutely no mood to be lectured about what happened in the exercise. Truthfully, he didn't give a damn whether Kageyama was angry or what he thought about anything, so the teenager viciously snarled at the teenager and sliced his hand through the air.

"Get out of the way, bowl-cut!" shouted Bakugo, "No way I'm listening to you-" The teenager's sentence was cut off when he felt himself being abruptly pulled towards Kageyama. The teenager didn't get it: was Kageyama doing this? Did his quirk also give him the ability to move things with his mind? He never saw him use this ability during the quirk apprehension test!

Bakugo's adrenaline sharply spiked: the two of them were only inches apart, and now the blonde teenager could get a better look of the furious features etched on the teenager's face.

"This isn't an option."

Chills ran down Bakugo's spine. The explosive teenager had never seen anything so menacing, so intimidating. Mob thrust his finger in the air, and telekinetically pushed Bakugo into an adjacent alley. The esper released his hold on the teenager and walked a few steps until they were a few feet apart from each other.

"You lost the exercise." Mob started up the conversation with a blunt repetition of the obvious, eliciting a sharp inhale from Bakugo. "Today was proof that Midoriya was better than you in something."

"Shut up." The teenager's hands curled into fists, and his whole body began to tremble with indignation. How dare he mock Bakugo, humiliate him even more than he'd already been humiliated.

"I told you before that you'd soon find something that your quirk couldn't help you with. EVEN," the esper put a heavy emphasis on that word, "without using his quirk, he was able to outsmart you, predict your moves and come up with a plan to beat you. All of that came from years of training and commitment, not something he was just born with. Even after you nearly killed him-"

_99%_

The esper took a short breath to pause before he continued to make his point. "Beat him like an animal, he still persevered and made you look like the average person you really are."

That was it. Katsuki Bakugo could no longer keep the beast locked up in his cage. The teenager screamed with primal rage and rushed the esper with his fists prepared to ignite. "I'M GONNA KI-"

Poor Bakugo. He had no way of knowing that the beast inside of him was a small newborn kitten in comparison to the rabid, untamed monster that laid dormant inside of Mob for more than ten months, waiting to be unleashed again. The peace and steadiness of Mob's new life allowed him to keep his powers in check for quite a while, but it was only a matter of time before the limit was reached.

The blonde teenager was abruptly frozen in the air. "What?" Bakugo commanded his body to break free, continue attacking with all of his might, but it was no use. Kageyama was somehow able to immobilize him again!

"You're not the only one who's fueled by rage."

Katsuki Bakugo bravely looked up to see what had been unleashed, and when he did, at last he understood the kind of carnal fury Shigeo Kageyama had kept hidden inside. A brilliant burst of rainbow energy shot out, and when the esper met his opponent's gaze, his newly crimson eyes, home to a firestorm of repressed fury, bore there way into the explosive student's eyes and into his very soul. It was then, for the very first time, that Katsuki Bakugo felt true fear. Fear of the monster that had been awakened once again.

_100% Animosity_

* * *

**We all knew it was going to happen! There was no way that Mob would let things go on like this! Bakugo's finally gonna understand just how truly helpless he is in the face of such overwhelming anger and power. For the Mob and Momo team-up, I did actually have a purpose for this besides the obvious! You'll just have to wait until next chapter to see what'll happen to Bakugo and how the shy esper does with Yayorozu in Chapter 11 of 100 Percent Hero!**


	11. Animosity

**It's here! The long-anticipated battle between Mob and Bakugo! The esper couldn't take it anymore, and now Bakugo's gonna have to deal with that rage! Let's see how it turns out!**

* * *

"You're not the only one who's fueled by rage."

The psychic student's bottled-up fury was finally awakened yet again. This anger was different, more driven and deeper than his other fights against Dimple and Suzuki. In those moments, his anger was awakened more out of the necessity to fight. But this: the only other time he'd felt this way was when he fought the esper who kidnapped Ritsu. Back then, he felt a deeper fury, a border-line hatred for his enemy. Now he felt that same fury, that same developing hatred for the teenager floating in front of him who spent his childhood mercilessly bullying his friend.

Mob decided to let history repeat itself and sunk the enemy teenager a few feet into the ground. Bakugo yelled out: he'd never felt anything like this before! Somehow, Kageyama was able to use his powers to increase the gravity around him. It was as if hundreds of people were piling down on him, keeping him chained to the ground.

How could he break free of such a overwhelming force like this? He rapidly thought of a solution to break free, and a quick fix came to him. He could use his explosion quirk to propel himself up. Then, he'd shoot himself toward the bowl-haired nerd and blow him away!

Bakugo activated his quirk and created a small explosion against the ground. Sadly, the hot-headed teenager was way out of his league: instead of pushing him off the ground and onto his feet, Bakugo barely moved an inch up from his spot. The explosion momentarily disoriented the blonde adolescent due to how close he was to the blast. He could try and increase the force of the blast by using his grenadier, but as soon as the thought came to his mind, he realized it wouldn't work. First, he'd have to open the pin and pull it, and he couldn't even move a finger. Besides, even if he could, the force of the blast at such a close range would likely do some serious damage to his brain.

"You're not getting out that easily." The young esper began to slowly walk down the caving ground. "I warned you of what would happen if you badly hurt Midoriya. You only have yourself to blame for this." Bakugo could not give a proper reply and only grunted in anger.

"I'm pretty sure I understand why you hate Midoriya so much. You might act like you're better and stronger than him, but deep down, you're afraid of him, afraid of what he's become."

Every fiber of that angry boy wanted to lash out and silence his enemy, but the pitiful teenager was helpless. "Because in your eyes, if someone as "pathetic" and "weak" as him can outmatch you, then that mean's you'll be nothing, just a loser who lost to a "nobody" like him."

The psychic teenager telekinetically dragged Bakugo towards him, holding him by the mouth while his enemy desperately tried to break free of his grasp, but the grip was like iron. "I almost feel sorry for you."

"Funny!" Bakugo said through muffled words, "I was about to say the same thing!" Now that his hands were free, the blonde teenager blasted his enemy with a point-blank blast to his chest. Bakugo smiled with glee: that attack should've been enough to at least disorient him and loosen his ridiculously strong grip on him. But unfortunately for him, Bakugo felt no loss of resistance.

"Was that supposed to be an attack?" Katsuki Bakugo felt his heart drop to the ground: the smoke of the attack cleared, revealing a completely unharmed Kageyama staring him down with his blood-red eyes. These blasts were absolutely nothing compared to the kind of explosions Suzuki made during their fight.

"That barely counts as a tickle."

The burning fire coursing through his blood quickly died out. He'd taken that blast like it was nothing! He didn't even flinch! The small, hate-driven part of him was tempted to use his grenadier, shut that newly-arrogant mouth of his, but he knew that would be an almost certain death sentence, and he wasn't that devoid of morality.

Mob swung the teenager's body over him, then slammed Bakugo into the ground. The force created a crater one or two meters in diameter, as well as several cracks in the foundation of the adjacent buildings. The blonde teenager let out a muffled shout of pain.

"The last person who was on the receiving end of this anger didn't end up so hot, and it's taking all the self-restraint I have not to beat you as badly as I did him. But luckily for you, I'm not going to go any further, seeing as we're in school and in the middle of a training exercise. But listen here."

The esper lifted up his finger, and Bakugo could feel Mob's hand tighten around his jaw. Shigeo's teeth clenched with fury, making Bakugo shudder with fear.

"Since you didn't get the message the last two times, let me make this crystal clear: if you ever hurt Midoriya the way you did today again, I'll make sure you feel the full weight of this unyielding rage."

The esper was finished with his outburst and threw Bakugo to the ground like he was throwing a piece of chewed-up gum. "We're meeting up with the class in a few minutes, so I suggest you get up and move along."

Mob walked to the clearing of the alleyway. It wasn't a pretty sight, but the esper had gotten his point across. He looked back, noting that Bakugo still hadn't gotten up from his spot. Was he injured worse than he'd anticipated from his attacks? Would he have to lift him up and carry him with his psychic powers?

Fortunately, the explosive adolescent picked up his body off the ground. As he got up, his shoulders were slouched, and his eyes never left the ground. When he started to walk, Bakugo's footsteps were heavy, as if every step was a burden for him.

Now that Mob's anger was beginning to fade and he was seeing how impacted Bakugo was by his outburst, he began to a small semblance of regret for what he'd done. Maybe he'd gone too far just now. Should he've just given him another stern warning?

No: he'd tried to settle this peacefully, try to help Bakugo see the error of his ways and talk things out in a civilized manner, but he'd adamantly refused to listen and badly injured Midoriya. He'd been given no choice but to solve things with force.

Still, he hoped this would never happen again. In Mob's mind, he prayed Bakugo would take this lesson to heart, make an effort to change himself like Hanazawa had done. After all, his fellow esper had taken his loss pretty hard too, and while Mob felt terrible regret for what had transpired, he was still happy to know that they'd become friends after that. Maybe Bakugo would warm up to the idea of being friends as well.

"Kageyama?" The esper's ears picked up on the sound of All Might's heightened voice. Shigeo looked and saw the hero frantically searching the area, and when he saw Mob, he jogged over to his side.

"What's going on? Where's Bakugo?" After returning to the rest of the class, he'd noticed the esper was missing. When he asked the other students where he'd gone, they said he'd apparently gone to the bathroom, although the hero could tell they weren't exactly positive that was where he went.

The symbol of peace had noticed how shocked and angered Kageyama became when witnessing Bakugo's rampage, and a worrisome thought crossed his mind: what if he'd decided to... take matters into his own hands? At first, Toshinori tried to dismiss this idea. He'd known the esper as a kind, peaceful, pacifistic soul who would never use violence against his fellow students. But then he remembered how he lost control of his powers when they first met, how he nearly destroyed a city block. It was quite possible that the esper could lose control of himself and attack Bakugo. He hated the idea, but it wasn't out of the realm of possibility. That's why he had to see where Bakugo was, to confirm it wasn't what he feared.

Bakugo came walking out of the alley, looking dejected and lifeless, but otherwise unharmed. "Did anything happen between you two?"

The esper flinched, a feeling of shakiness coming over him. Truth be told, he didn't really think over what he'd done or what it might mean. He was just so, so angry with what'd happened that he couldn't hold it in anymore. What should he say?

_7%_

"No." Shigeo took a stifled gasp. Bakugo stood in between Shigeo and Toshinori, though his eyes still didn't raise above the ground. "Nothing happened." The esper couldn't believe what Bakugo was doing: he was defending him? But why? He should've been furious, going on a rant about how Mob had lost control and beaten him mercilessly.

For the immensely prideful teenager, there were two reasons he would not reveal the truth about what just happened: one, the idea of openly admitting that he'd lost and overpowered a second time made him want to vomit his insides. Two, he wasn't a snitch who would rat out his classmates to get them in trouble. His pride wouldn't allow that, make such a cowardly and easy move to get him into trouble. Besides, then he'd never have to chance to have a rematch and prove himself better.

"Well..." All Might cleared his throat and awkwardly motioned the two teenagers to the the surveillance room. "Let's go review the battle." Mob nodded, and all three walked together in the solemn and awkward silence.

* * *

Everyone minus Midoriya had gathered in the surveillance room. The three fighters stood separate of the other students while All Might stood in front of the podium, and the two boxes with the team numbers were there as well. Uraraka was still feeling queasy from overexerting herself, while Bakugo was still in self-loathing over his loss and Iida was similarly disappointed with his failure to protect the weapon. By this time, Mob's angry outburst had subsided, and as All Might and the other students could tell, he was back to his regular emotionless self.

"As you all know, this battle was a very dramatic and unexpected show, but despite the results, the MVP of this round is young Iida!"

Many of the students in the room gasped, and Iida's head jerked up in surprise. "Huh?"

"Wait, are you sure?" said Asui, "Shouldn't it be one of the heroes?"

"Yea," continued Mob, who couldn't wrap his brain around why All Might made this decision even after Midoriya showed such amazing skills against Bakugo, "What's the reason?"

"Valid question, you two. Why didn't I choose one of the heroes? Would anyone care to take a crack at an answer?"

Yaoyorozu's hand instantly shot up. "I can tell you why." Mob's ears perked up, curious to see what she was able to understand that he couldn't.

"Iida was the only one of the contestants who adapted to his role as the villain. I'll break it down: Bakugo was not thinking rationally, too clouded by some grudge he holds against Midoriya. As you noted before, All Might, activating that large explosion and destroying part of the building was a very reckless and foolish decision that could've potentially destroyed the entire complex. Midoriya, while showing good combat skills, did not have a proper plan thought out when taking into account how he damaged both of his arms and left himself defenseless for the enemy to prey on.

"As for Uraraka, she exposed her position mid-battle, and her final attack was far too reckless. Had the bomb been real, she wouldn't have made such a bold and imprecise final move. Iida, however, prepared himself for the opponent's arrival. He had a strategy in-place, never lost his composure and ensured the weapon remained safe, even if it was ultimately unsuccessful. While the heroes won by technicality, they ignored the fact that it was only training and didn't adhere to the spirit of the trial."

The blue-haired teenager felt a tingling warmth in his limbs. Hearing such high and glowing praises for his efforts to embrace the challenge was music to his ears. His heart filled up, and in a comedic fashion, waves of tears rolled down Iida's face.

All of the students were baffled by such a thorough and analytical explanation of the battle trial. For Shigeo, his eyes sparkled with fascination, and his cheeks became lightly stained. She was way smarter than he's originally thought! He didn't pick up on a single one of those details, yet she took in the information given and broke it down like an expert. Just what else could she do with that kind of intelligence?

For All Might, his mind was at a blank. This girl had basically taken the words out of his mouth and improved upon them. Her eye for this was incredible! The hero awkwardly tried to come up with something noteworthy to say. "Well, there was a thing or two that you missed on, like how Iida could've relaxed a bit more, but other than that," the hero gave the girl a big thumbs up, "You nailed it!"

"A person should always focus on developing the basics, then devote themselves entirely to learning. That's the only way to become a top hero."

Mob felt his heart fluttering like a butterfly. So focused, so determined, and so intelligent. She reminded him of Ritsu, who was always book smart and could figure out a solution to anything or break down any situation he was given. He was suddenly even more grateful that he got someone so remarkable as a teammate for this exercise.

All Might jerked behind the two boxes. "With the analysis of this match out of the way, let's pick the next teams for the second match! Keep in mind everything we just discussed and employ it for your coming matches!"

The symbol of peace dug his hands into the two boxes and pulled out the two teams that would be competing next. When Mob saw which letter was pulled out of the boxes, his eyes nominally bulged.

"Team C will be the villains, and Team B will be the heroes!"

"Wait, who's..." Mob was about to ask, but two students, one with six arms, silver hair and a very imposing body, the other being the red and white-haired teenager who'd commented on Bakugo before, walked up to the boxes.

Yaoyorozu approached her teammate, oozing with confidence and determination. "It seems we're villains. Slightly unfortunate, but not a particular hindrance. Are you ready to play the role of the villain? That's key for our victory."

"Oh," The esper rubbed the back of his head, not expecting such a direct line of questioning, "Yea, I guess."

"Good."

"Teams, follow me to the next battle building!" The symbol of peace marched to the door, and the four competitors followed behind him. While they were walking, murmurs spread through the crowd.

"Whoa, this is gonna be an intense match," said Hanto Sero, a tall student with black hair and, more bizarrely, elbows that were cylindrical tape dispensers.

"No kidding! Two of the opponents got into this school through special recommendation, and one of them's Kageyama!" remarked Kaminari.

"Man, I'm pumped to see them all in action, especially Kageyama!" said Kirishima.

Bakugo heard this and felt his chest grow heavier. Oh, he'd seen Kageyama in action, and he was an absolute monster. His strength, speed and durability were unbelievable, and even now, he was unsure of how many different ways Kageyama could use his powers. He doubted any of them would see that side of him during this exercise, though. Only Bakugo knew what he was really capable of, and after seeing his inner rage, Bakugo understood with perfect clarity that if they fought without holding back, it would be a bloodbath.

* * *

While the five were walking, Yaoyorozu was whispering in Mob's ear. Her breath tickled against his neck, sending chills down the esper's spine and causing him to blush at how close she was.

_15%_

"Be very cautious. The one on the right is Shoto Todoroki. Both him and I got into U.A. High via recommendation, which means his quirk is extremely formidable. You saw him use it a few times during the quirk apprehension tests."

Mob remembered observing the quirks of his classmates, and had noticed how Todoroki's quirk revolved around ice formation. It looked as though he could summon it from anywhere on his body. Well, to be more precise, from anywhere on the right side of his body. For some reason, he never generated any ice on the left side. The amount he could generate was quite considerable, and it had more destructive ability than many of the other quirks in the class.

"We'll talk about a strategy once we reach the location of the bomb." The five walked for less than a minute before they stopped in front of a building next to the one destroyed from the previous battle.

"As before," The symbol of peace took a map, two earpieces, and two rolls of tape out from his pockets. Yaoyorozu took the items and gave an earpiece to her teammate.

"In you go then!" All Might respectfully opened the front door for the villain team. "Remember the errors from the previous match and improve upon them. Good luck!"

"Thank you, sir." Yaoyorozu and Kageyama bowed their heads and entered the building. Once the door shut behind them, the tall girl immediately opened up the map. Kageyama peered his head to see where they'd find the weapon.

"The weapon is on the fourth floor, in the northern room. Now let's hurry. We only have a few minutes to get ready and strategize."

"Got it." The two teammates sprinted up the staircase. Mob could've gone faster, but he didn't want to be rude and just rush on ahead of Yaoyorozu. Once they reached the room with the bomb, the clever teenager quickly shut the door behind her.

"Ok, first things we need to do is barricade the door, guard the most obvious entrance."

"What do you have in mind?" Mob's powers didn't really work as a safeguard, but Yaoyorozu had her own solution. The teenager felt lightly uncomfortable when he saw her stomach glowing multi-colored, then multiple steel girders suddenly popped out.

"My quirk lets me form any object I want from my body," Yaoyorozu said, seeing how confused Mob was by what she was doing. "However, I have to know the molecular structure of the object I intend to make."

"Here, let me help there." The young esper lifted his hand and placed all three girders against the door. The clever girl's lips extended slightly upward.

"That'll save us time. I'll make the girders, you stack them." Yaoyorozu's stomach sparkled again while she created the girders.

"For us to succeed, I also need to have a better idea of how your quirk works. Does it do more than increase your physical aptitude?"

"Oh, well..." It seemed this was becoming a more and more popular question for the esper. "My psychic powers let me move things with my mind, which also allows me to restrain others if necessary and lets me fly too. My quirk's energy also serves as a pseudo-barrier which sort of protects me from attacks, and I can also make actual barriers."

The young girl showed visible astonishment at the variety of abilities he listed. She couldn't believe his quirk had such an extensive range of usage. It was unbelievable. However, she focused her attention on the power that would be most useful.

"You can restrain others? That can give us a massive advantage. In fact..." The girl tapped her chin, thinking of the best way to play to their strengths.

"Alright, the best option for us is to attack while they're caught off guard. Since this is the only entrance to the room, it's best to defend it. Once they arrive, they'll be forced to break the door down. When they do, you'll be standing in front of the door while I stay crouched near the door here. Then, when they enter the room, you use your quirk to immobilize them, while I swoop in from the side and wrap the tape around them."

"I like it."

"It's also better if we move the weapon to a more isolated area in the room instead of right in the center of the room. That way, if they bust the door open, the bomb won't be damaged by any flying debris. Could you do that while I finish making the girders?"

"Sure thing."

"Over there in the far right corner would be good." The esper lifted his hand and moved the bomb to the corner like he was lifting a pebble. Mob then directed his attention back to the door, and without even being asked, placed all of the remaining girders on the door.

"Good." The heroine stared down at the floor, tapping her foot impatiently. "While it's important to keep the door defended, we also have to consider that the enemy will attempt an attack from above or below ground to take us by surprise. While it's not a probable choice when keeping in mind how that could damage the structural integrity of the building, it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility."

"Do you think they're going to try and trap us with the tape or go straight for the bomb?"

"No, it's very unlikely they'll try to engage us in prolonged combat. After all, they've seen how formidable your strength is, and considering that we're in the same room as the bomb, it wouldn't be a practical decision." The young girl began to form a staff from her left arm and twirled it around before firmly stamping it on the ground. "If we do have to fight them, I'll be able to hold my own."

* * *

Outside of the building, Todoroki and his partner, whose name was Mezo Shoji, were looking over the layout of the building and discussing how they'd go about infiltrating the villain base.

"My quirk will allow me to locate where the enemies are." The imposing student's arms extended, and on the tips, six pairs of ears formed. Each of his arms had the ability to form different appendages of the body, ranging from ears, mouthes, or just regular hands. Not only that, but it gave the student impressive physical strength. "That will save us time in trying to find the weapon."

"We're facing some formidable opponents. They placed first and second in the quirk apprehension test, and both of them have very powerful quirks."

"Our biggest threat is Kageyama. His amazing speed and strength make him very dangerous, and as long as he's in our way, it'll be very difficult to get the bomb. Our first objective should be to immobilize him. Yaoyorozu, we'll have to be somewhat cautious of, but she isn't as big a threat."

"Yes," Shoji said, nodding his head in agreement. Suddenly, All Might's voice boomed through the sound system.

"Alright, time's started! Get going!"

Shoji entered the front of the building and extended his six arms. He transformed the tips of his top four tentacles into ears and listened to the vibrations in the ground, the voices of his enemies, and their footsteps.

Coming in from behind him, Todoroki was prepped on the location of their enemies by Shoji's mid left tentacle, whose tip had changed into a mouth. "Both enemies are in the same room on the fourth floor. Based on that, it's safe to assume they barricaded themselves inside the room and are waiting for us to make our move."

"So they plan to engage us in a defensive battle." The red and white-haired student immediately began to think of the kind of countermeasures they would implement. As long as he knew where they were and what kind of strategy they would use, Todoroki was confident he'd be able to come out on top.

"They might think they'll have the advantage now," the composed student said, a confident smirk forming on his face. "But they'll soon find out that this battle is already over."

Todoroki motioned for his teammate to accompany him, and the large teenager slowly paced behind him. "Make sure you keep monitoring the enemies so one of them doesn't try to sneak up on us."

The two heroes went to the stairway and made their way up to the fourth floor while Shoji kept his ears actively listening in on Yayorozu and Kageyama.

"They're in there." The two heroes had made it to the fourth floor, and were standing in front of a door that Shoji was pointing at. Four of his tentacle tips were ears, and all of them were honing in on the approximate location of their enemies. "One of them is standing a few feet from the door, ready to ambush any intruders. The other is standing several feet in front of the door."

"Hmph. They must be planning to catch us by surprise, wrap the tape around us."

The icy student was oozing with confidence. Now that they'd already made it to the bomb's location, he could use his ice quirk to freeze the entire room. As Yaoyarozu had suspected, Todoroki had extensive training with his quirk and could apply it over a wide area. It was so powerful, in fact, that he would've simply frozen the building from the start. However, that wouldn't have been practical, since it they were both wearing shoes and they could simply take off those shoes or break free of the ice. But now, they wouldn't have enough time to break free, allowing Todoroki and Shoji to retrieve the weapon.

But as Todoroki mulled over this plan, he realized that they would need more to take care of Kageyama. He'd seen the way his quirk increased his physical abilities: if he wanted, he could break free of his ice restraints in an instant. While he might lose his shoes in the process, it wouldn't be sufficient to take care of him long enough.

Todoroki rested his chin on his hand for a moment. Once again, Kageyama was proving himself to be the bigger obstacle. He had to find a way to make sure he'd be immobilized, distracted long enough for one of them to get the weapon. If he couldn't do that with his ice powers, then he'd clearly have to employ some other tactic. Maybe his partner could do something...

An idea popped up in his head! Yes, he thought of a way he could take care of both of their opponents long enough to complete their mission.

"Alright, here's my idea."

* * *

In the room, the two villains continued to wait in anticipation for their opponents to barge through the door. Only a minute after the timer had gone off, Yaoyorozu could hear the light sound of footsteps and the voices of their opponents through the wall.

"I hear them in front of the door, Kageyama. Get ready." The esper leaned his body forward, waiting for whatever was coming from the other side of the door.

Without warning, the right wall became encased in ice, only inches away from Yaoyorozu. Both villains knew this was Todoroki's work, but were confused why this patch of ice formed on the wall. They were quickly made clear when the ice spread all throughout the room.

"Kageyama, fly up!" The female teenager yelled out to her teammate before her feet were frozen to the ground. Mob immediately did as his teammate said and got himself off the ground less than an inch before the ice reached his feet. The esper's eyebrows drew together when he saw her teammate stuck to the floor, struggling to break free.

"Yaoyarozu, are you ok?"

_22%_

"Kageyama, don't let your guard down!"

The esper's eyebrow furrowed up in confusion, but he soon caught on to what she was saying. Immediately after the room was frozen, the front door burst. The steel girders flew through the air in many directions, though most of them were aimed at Mob. Thankfully, the bowl-haired teenager was able to react quickly enough to stop all of the girders midair.

In the surveillance room, the spectators were shocked by the abilities both Todoroki and Kageyama were displaying.

"Whoa!" The young bob-haired girl was particularly amazed by the esper's abilities. "I didn't know he could lift objects and fly like I can!" Uraraka began to fidget with her fingers. "And he doesn't need to touch them to make them float..." So Mob could do everything she could, except better.

"Damn!" exclaimed Kirishima, "Kageyama's quirk has so many uses!"

"No kidding," continued Asui, "He's way better than I thought."

"But man, that ice guy's pretty strong, and kinda intimidating too," Kaminari said, hunching his shoulders and pacing a step back in fear.

Back on the fighting ground, Mob was holding the girders in the air, not anticipating what would come next. Shoji had punched through the door with his three arms. Then, when Kageyama was momentarily distracted by all the flying objects, he sprinted through the door, heading straight for the esper with his arms crossed in front of him.

The esper gasped when he saw Shoji rushing him. The buff teenager jumped up and brought him to the ground, pushing him towards the wall. Yaoyorozu frowned when he saw her teammate pushed back, but her frown deepened when she saw Todoroki entering the door and scouting the room. She saw what they were doing: their plan was to immobilize Yaoyorozu with the ice. Then, Shoji would break the door open, catching Kageyama off-guard and allowing Shoji to distract him long enough for Todoroki to get the bomb.

The young girl had to act quickly, stop Todoroki! And she knew the molecular structure of just the object that would do the job.

"Kageyama, close your eyes!" The esper immediately did as she asked and clasped his eyes shut. Yaoyorozu's right palm glowed bright red, and she threw an object in front of Todoroki. The room filled up with a bright light: Yaoyorozu had formed a flash bang. The device created a bright flash of light that would blind their opponents for five seconds and disorient them with a loud bang. That would give enough time for Yaoyorozu to break free of the ice and handle Todoroki.

While the ice-wielding teenager was dealing with the momentary blindness, Shoji had Mob up against the wall. He used two of his hands to pin Mob's arms to the wall, while one of his other hands held the tape.

"Sorry for being so rough, Kageyama," said Shoji, "But I must take you out of the match."

Mob's body lit up with a rainbow aura, and the esper telekinetically pushed his opponent several meters to the right. He could've done much worse, but the psychic was still averse to the idea of using his powers against his classmates, and only wanted to use them to the bare minimum.

The esper focused on his teammate, and he was relieved to see that she'd gotten free of the ice by fiercely squiggling her feet out of her boots and keeping them frozen in the ice. She shuddered when the ice touched her bare feet. She couldn't fight like this! For others, this would've been a rather annoying hindrance. However, Yaoyorozu had measures she could take for this. Her feet began to glow, and a new pair of red boots formed around her feet and shins, an easy fix.

"Now's our chance! Let's take out Todoroki! Immobilize him!" Yaoyorozu knew this was the best opportunity to take care of their biggest threat.

"Got it!" Shigeo held his hand out, and his rainbow aura wrapped around Todoroki, constricting his body like an anaconda squeezing his prey. Yaoyorozu took out the tape, ready to take Torodoki out of the game. Unfortunately, Shoji rushed in from the side and tackled the esper again, releasing the ice-wielding teenager from Mob's gasp.

By this time, Todoroki's pupils had adjusted enough to get faint outlines of his surroundings and the ringing subside in his ears. He saw Yaoyorozu rushing him, and he raised her hand towards her. The girl gasped as she watched Todoroki prepare to encase her with ice.

_28%_

"Yaoyorozu!" The esper brought his hand out, using his psychic powers to yank his teammate out of the way of the large pillars of ice in the nick of time. Yaoyorozu took a sigh of relief.

"Thanks for the save, Kageyama!"

The young girl's eyes narrowed at Todoroki, and she extended her finger out towards him. "You'll pay for your insolence!" The girl was attempting to emulate a villain's personality and arrogantly derided her opponent. "It's only a matter of time before you fall prey to us and we take our prize!"

Shoji shoved Kageyama several meters, until both of them were only a few meters away from the bomb. Then, he primed his fists and prepared a series of punches from four of his hands, assuming that his enemy would be able to handle the onslaught of attacks. But to the shock of Shoji, Todoroki, and basically everyone else in the surveillance room, the punches were blocked by a barrier erected by Mob.

"What?" The imposing, muscular teenager could not believe what he was seeing. Kageyama could protect himself with shields made of his psychic energy?

"What?!" The spectating students all let out gasps, a newfound amazement building at the plethora of skills their classmate had.

"He can make barriers too?" said Sato.

"Just what else can he do with his quirk?" remarked Tokoyami.

"Kageyama's freaking insane!" shouted Kirishima.

While most of the other students were reacting with shock, Bakugo was reacting with dread. This was absolutely unreal. Kageyama had developed his quirk far beyond the reaches of what he ever imagined. He could use it for so many different purposes, giving him amazing offensive and defensive capabilities and making it damn near impossible to get a proper opening. How... how could he possibly go up against that?

And Kageyama wasn't the only one who was showing his superior strength. That ice guy showed some amazing skill and training with his quirk. He could freeze the entire room within seconds, immobilizing his enemies and giving him the chance to land devastating attacks. If he went up against that guy, the result would be the same overwhelming loss.

As Shoji attempted to break through the barrier with his punches, the female student rushed the teenager and slammed her pole across Shoji's face. The teenager was momentarily staggered, and Momo followed up with a strong side kick to the stomach.

Todoroki, his sight completely restored, stomped his foot down, creating another large ice attack. Kageyama put up a barrier around both himself and his teammate, retaliating with a strong punch against the ice. The strength of this punch shattered the ice and created a gust of wind strong enough to send Todoroki flying. Unfortunately for him, he hadn't moved from his position in front of the door, so the gusts of wind sent him flying through the door and more than a dozen meters into the hallway. The esper gasped when he saw Todoroki flying through the door. Oh no! Was he badly hurt?

"Excellent work, Kageyama!"

Yaoyorozu brought his attention back to the matter at hand: restraining his enemy so his teammate could wrap the tape around him. Hopefully, Todoroki wasn't dealt any debilitating damage.

Shoji shook off the brunt of Momo's attack, but by that time, it was too late: Mob had once again restrained his opponent with his psychic powers. The hero felt like a thick line of rope had been wrapped around him. He tried to break free, use his brute strength to overpower Kageyama's psychic powers, but the esper's bonds were too strong.

Yaoyorozu took out the tape, and as quickly as possible, wrapped it around the enemy's large body. Shoji was helpless, a great feeling of dread washing over him as the tape made its way around his large body.

"Yes!" The female student yelped out in joy and clenched her fist with excitement. "Shoji is out! Now all that's left is Todoroki, and the villains will triumph!"

The red and white-haired teenager rushed into the room, attempting to save his comrade. However, when he re-entered the room, he saw his teammate with the tape wrapped around his body.

"I'm sorry. I've been taken out."

"That's right!" Yaoyorozu let out a very forced and unbelievable evil laugh, and put her hands to her sides. "We've taken out your teammate, and you'll joining him soon!"

"Yea!" Kageyama attempted to emulate the same villainous demeanor as his partner. "We're gonna get you now!"

All three of the students in the room had comedic ellipsis's form around their foreheads, and the esper felt the heat rise in his cheeks. God, that was so embarrassing!

"This isn't over yet." Todoroki was still confident that he could get the bomb in his possession. All he needed to do was take evasive maneuvers and catch them off-guard. The hero skated along the ice, swerving left and right in a zig-zagging motion, heading straight for the bomb. The two villains readied their stances to defend themselves for his attack.

But his attack wasn't what they thought: Todoroki touched his palm to the ground, forming more ice on the ground on top of the first layer of ice he created when he froze the room. The teenagers were unprepared for the same attack twice, and both of them were frozen to the ground yet again. Since he was so close to the bomb, that momentary freezing would give him enough time to put his hand on the bomb.

"I'm not giving you the chance to immobilize me." Todoroki stomped his foot on the ground, creating an ice attack targeted for Kageyama. The esper protected himself with a barrier, but by that time, Todoroki had almost reached the bomb.

"Oh no you don't!" Yaoyorozu wasn't going to just let Todoroki rush past them. She craned her left arm to the side, and with all her might, threw the shield at Todoroki as a projectile. The shield hit Todoroki square in the chest, knocking the breath out of him and causing him to recoil in pain.

"There's my chance!" Kageyama saw the chance to take action. He used his telekinesis to take the tape from his hand and unrolled it around Todoroki's body in less than a second. It took less than two seconds for Todoroki to recover from the blow, but by that time, the teenager already felt the tape wrapped around his body.

The surveillance room beamed with excitement. "They did it!"

All Might's trademark smile reached the tips of his ears. Kageyama and Yaoyorozu cooperated and managed to get the edge over the heroes with skills and strategy.

"The villains win!"

The female teenager's eyes danced with happiness and pride, the corners of her lips pointing upward. "It looks like our strategy and cooperation worked out great in the end. This was a much better match-up than I anticipated."

"Oh-" The esper's face ripened like a fresh tomato, and his heart began to race. "Thanks. You did a great job, too."

"Congratulations." Kageyama and Yaoyorozu were greeted by Mezo Shoji, who had removed the tape from his body and was respectfully bowing his head towards his opponents. "You both did very well. Kageyama, I hope I didn't hurt you."

Shigeo waved both of his hands in dismissal. That was the exact same sentiment he was hoping to extend to both of his enemies.

"Oh no, I'm fine. You and Todoroki had a good strategy." Speaking of Todoroki, the bowl-haired teenager looked to his right and saw the ice-wielding student with his eyes downcast and his fingers clamped into fists. Then, Shoto placed his hand to the ground, perplexing the other three students.

A huge burst of steam came from Todoroki's palm. The ice on the floor began to melt, and shortly after, the rest of the ice in the room evaporated. The ice was running down the walls, wetting the floor and making the socks of everyone in the room soggy.

Kageyama approached his opponent with his face gentle and his demeanor warm. It seemed like he was upset about his loss. "Are you alright? I'm sorry if I sent you flying just now. I didn't think my punch would be that strong. Here, let me help you up."

The esper extended his hand to assist Shoto off the ground. Todoroki's eyes met Kageyama, and the esper was taken aback by the cold, ruthless gaze in his eyes. Shoto scoffed and slapped Kageyama's hand away.

"I don't need your help. I'll handle things myself." Without giving a second glance to either Yaoyorozu or his teammate, Shoto silently paced out of the room and down the stairs with his hands stuffed in his pockets. The red and white-haired teenager was feeling a hot prickly feeling in the back of his neck. Kageyama had gotten the best of him, easily handling his ice attacks. With his ability to fly and form energy barriers, he couldn't freeze him to the ground or attack him with his ice attacks. The only way he could've gotten the edge was if...

The teenager fiercely shook his head. No, he absolutely refused to entertain the notion of using his left side. To do that would be to accept a part of him that he loathed, and he would never allow that to happen.

* * *

The four teenagers made their way back to the surveillance room, with Todoroki taking the lead. When Todoroki entered the room, some of the students smiled at him and attempted to compliment him for his performance, but his icy stare and the scowl on his face caused them to back away nervously.

Instead, many of the students crowded around Kageyama, giving him most of their attention. The esper staggered a step backwards as about ten students surrounded him, smiling with great enthusiasm and admiration.

"Damn dude, you were incredible!" said Kaminari.

"How did you use your quirk for so many different purposes?" asked Tokoyami.

"You're so awesome!" Asido exclaimed, jumping with excitement.

"It's clear how you got first place in both the quirk apprehension test and the entrance exams," Iida remarked.

"Yea dude!" Kirishima's boisterous and upbeat personality lit up among the faces of the people surrounding Kageyama, and he decided to wrap his arm around the esper's neck. The bowl-haired teenager momentarily recoiled, but soon relaxed and loosened his body. "I really like your stuff!" Kirishima released Mob from his grip, still smiling and exuding pleasant energy. "The name's Eijiro Kirishima."

"Hey, I'm Hanta Sero."

"Mina Ashido!"

"Tsuyu Asui. But please, call me Tsu."

"Denki Kaminari!"

"Nice to meet you all." Kageyama attempted to act more composed and greet his fellow classmates properly. This was a very odd experience for the esper: for the first time ever, his fellow classmates were crowding around him, complimenting him and giving him their attention for his powers. This was nothing like what he'd experienced back at Salt Middle School. Truth be told, Kageyama wasn't really sure how to react to this sudden influx of attention over his powers.

The admiration also extended to Yaoyorozu, complimenting her for her quick thinking and unique quirk, although the admiration wasn't on the same level as it was for Kageyama.

Watching the classmates swarm around the esper and give him praise, the number one hero was delighted to see Kageyama's classmates warming up to him. After so many months spent with only Toshinori and Izuku to interact with and keep him company, it was good to know that his classmates had already taken a liking to him and he wouldn't have to worry about being alone. It was the start of his new social life at school, and hopefully, Kageyama would come to enjoy it.

* * *

The battles that took place after Mob's fight were much shorter and much less dramatic. The students all took inspiration from the passionate battles they'd just seen and gave it their all during their own battles. Now that Kageyama was no longer focused on Izuku or his battle, that gave him more time to notice Bakugo's lifeless eyes.

The bowl-haired teenager was somewhat concerned by how hard he'd taken the day's events. His fiery eyes, ferocious smile, and boastful attitude had all but disappeared, leaving nothing but an empty shell. In a way, Bakugo was almost acting like Mob. However, the esper wasn't sure what to say to him, how to try and put what happened into perspective. Besides, Bakugo probably wouldn't want to listen to another word he had to say, at least for the rest of the day. For now, all he could do was wait.

Now that all of the students had gotten their chances to finish their battle trials, everyone was gathered outside of the buildings, waiting for All Might to finish their class.

"And that's a wrap for the day, folks! I was really pleased with what I see. Except for one student, no one was seriously hurt!" Mob felt a pang in his chest upon being reminded of the state of his friend.

Tsuyu Asui raised her hand and decided to voice her opinion first. "It's really good to see you giving us encouragement and praise after our homeroom class. Mr. Aizawa was really a buzzkill."

The rest of the class, especially Mob, agreed wholeheartedly, and nodded their heads in unison.

The symbol of peace was pleased to know his positive attitude was having a good effect on the students, and he raised both of his hands in the air. "I'm happy to hear that from all of you! Now if you'll excuse me-"

All Might raised his hand to the class and turned his body to the exit. "I should go check on Midoriya and see how he's doing. Now watch how a pro exits, like he's got SOMEWHERE TO BE!"

Toshinori dashed off through the corridor, creating small gusts of wind in the process and leaving the class amazed.

"How cool! That's how a hero really leaves the scene!" Kaminari said.

"Super awesome!" exclaimed a very small young man by the name of Minoru Mineta.

While the rest of the class was amazed by the hero's impressive speed, the features on Mob's face became somber, his lips curving downwards. Although he was definitely going to go see Midoriya, he knew the real reason why All Might was in such a big rush to leave the class.

Thankfully for All Might, he'd gotten out of the view of Class 1-A, so none of them could see the smoke coming off of the hero's face. Toshinori felt a coughing spree come up, and rushed to the nearby faculty room. As soon as he closed the door, the symbol of peace burst with smoke, revealing the frail, decrepit form of the number one hero desperately catching his breath.

"Damn it," muttered All Might, "I can barely teach a class before I revert back to my true form. Hopefully none of the students found that suspicious." The symbol of peace knew it was a big obstacle, being forced to hide from the rest of the campus for most of the day, but it was the only choice he had.

* * *

"It's only the second day of school, and he's already a regular patient!"

In the nurse's office, Recovery Girl was harshly scolding the symbol of peace while Izuku Midoriya lied unconscious on a bed. All Might frowned when he saw the shape his successor was in: his right arm was covered in bandages, there were still smudge marks and a few blood stains on his face, and an iv had been hooked up into Midoriya's left arm.

"His body's stamina was too drained from his previous classes for my quirk to work. My quirk won't let me treat all his injuries at once, so besides the first aid and iv I hooked up, this is all I can do for him at the moment. Come on, All Might."

The nurse swerved her chair around to face her desk. "I know you passed your quirk onto this young child, but you can't spoil him."

All Might rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes glued to the ground. "I'm trying not to play favorites in my class. But this fight was really important for Midoriya and his past trauma. I wanted to give him the opportunity to win the exercise and prove himself. Oh, by the way," The symbol of peace brought his eyes back up to the nurse, and his eyebrows furrowed down.

"Could you also keep your voice down about One for All when anyone around could hear you?"

Recovery Girl rolled her eyes. "Yea yea, I hear you, Mr. natural born hero."

All Might sighed. "Many people know about my true form and the injury I've sustained, consisting of the U.A. faculty and a certain group of pro heroes. However, only a select few people know the truth about One for All. That includes you, the principal, a very close friend of mine, and young Midoriya. Oh, and Kage-"

The symbol of peace immediately cut his sentence off. The nurse swerved her chair to look at All Might with her eyebrow raised up. "Who was that last one?"

Toshinori hesitated: once again, he was at an impasse over whether or not he should reveal the truth about Kageyama. She was a trusted confidant who knew the truth about his quirk, after all. Would it really hurt for Recovery Girl to know who the esper really was?

"It's no one." Unlike Nezu, the symbol of peace decided that the truth about Kageyama could be revealed to her another day. While he had complete confidence in her, it seemed that now was not the best time for the school nurse to be filled in on Shigeo's origins.

"Anyway, it's imperative that the truth about One for All remain a secret. If the world found out, the temptation of this power could corrupt our society, and it would put Midoriya in great danger. The people who wield this quirk are responsible for mankind's safety, to answer the call of justice."

Recovery Girl's face remained stern for a few seconds, but her face soon relaxed. That was the All Might she'd known for all these years, always thinking about the public's safety.

"If that's the case, that only makes it more important that you be a good guide."

"You're absolutely right, Recovery Girl." The symbol of peace needed to be the proper role model, for both Midoriya and Kageyama.

* * *

The formerly quirkless teenager's eyes slowly blinked open. The toll of the battle was rather high, and by the time he managed to regain consciousness, most of the day had already passed. Despite the terrible injuries he sustained, in his heart, he was proud. The young hero-in-training had gone against all the odds, all the ridicule from his childhood bully and his unsupportive middle school classmates, and proved he was able to stand up to Kacchan, winning the exercise.

"Thank goodness, you're finally awake." Recovery Girl hovered over All Might's successor, causing the young student's eyes to bulge open. His eyes bulged even further when he saw the clock on the wall.

"I've been out for more than six hours?"

"Pretty long, I know," the nurse muttered, shaking her head in disapproval, "Your battle really did a number on you. I was able to heal the blast injury on the left arm, but as for your right arm, you'll have to wait until tomorrow to have that healed. Your don't have enough stamina right now."

Izuku's features became downcast, his head craned down to the bed sheets. To think he'd missed the rest of his classes.

"Now don't look so down in the dumps." The school nurse attempted to lift the spirits of this young child. "Tomorrow, you'll come in, good as new."

Izuku appreciated the words of support Recovery Girl was giving him, and returned her affection with a small smile. "Thank you for your help, Recovery Girl."

"Don't mention it. Now get going. Your class is waiting for you."

Midoriya nodded his head and lifted his butt off the bed. At first, he winced at the pain in his arm, but managed to ignore it and exited the nurse.

As he walked through the hallway, he noticed the setting sun, the orange glow illuminating the school and casting dark shadows on the surrounding environment. Seeing how late it was caused the green-eyed teenager to pout. To think he'd missed all of his classes. Not only that, but he'd also missed how the rest of his class had performed on the tests, Kageyama in particular. He'd never gotten the opportunity to see how his friend did in an actual fight. He'd have to ask once he met up with him.

Izuku opened the door to Class 1-A, seeing his classmates casually conversing with one another, including Kageyama, although he seemed to be out of his element.

"It's Midoriya!" Kageyama's face lit up when he saw the green-eyed teenager back with the rest of the class, "Good to see you back!"

"Midoriya!" Many of the students crowded around Midoriya like they'd crowded around Mob before. The esper's chest constricted when he saw that his right arm was still bandaged.

"Wait, your injuries weren't fixed by Recovery Girl?"

"No. Turns out my body doesn't have enough stamina to fully heal my injuries, so I'll have to go to the nurse's office tomorrow to fully fix me up."

"Man, Midoriya, your match was really intense!" Kirishima exclaimed, shifting the conversation to what basically all of the other classmates were thinking, "I couldn't hear what you were saying, but I could tell you were all fired up!"

"You actually managed to hold your own against Bakugo, even though he's super strong!" continued Sero.

"And that dodging was super cool too!" remarked Ashido.

"It wasn't a very pretty battle, but you still did an acceptable job!"

Midoriya's eyes were changing focus to each of the students complimenting him, and his cheeks were beginning to flush with emotion. The students followed up by properly introducing themselves, just as they had done with Kageyama, and while they were doing this, Mob's heart began to warm. It was filling with the same sort of sentiment All Might had felt when seeing the other students give their praises to esper: to know that Midoriya wouldn't be alone at this school, and he was making friends as well.

While the other students were expressing their amazement at Midoriya's performance, a few of the other students were grouped together, talking amongst themselves. One of those was Tokoyami, who closed his eyes in frustration while sitting on top of a desk.

"It's getting so noisy."

"Tokoyami!" As expected, the uptight teenager Iida immediately rushed up to his classmate, his hands shopping up and down. "Get off of the desk this instant! I will not allow you to desecrate school property like that!"

"Dude, calm down. You're making too big a deal outta this," One of the students standing next to Tokoyami was a girl with purple hair and earphone jacks hanging from his earphone lobes named Kyoka Jirou, and she was finding Iida's stirct behavior to be a tiny bit vexing.

"Seriously, you need to chill," Oijiro said.

The blue-haired teenager's mouth gaped open with shock. The things his classmates were saying about him! Iida's body slumped forward, feeling alone in his ideals. "Why doesn't anyone understand..."

"I simply cannot condone any actions that damage these desks! Not when our upper classmen once used them!"

The students watched the scene unfold, chuckling in amusement. That was Iida, all right. Even now, he couldn't loosen up and had to be strict with everything in the class.

"You know, you and I should go out to eat sometime." Entering the classroom from another door were Kaminari and Uraraka, who'd volunteered to get books for the class. At the moment, Kaminari was trying to get some one-on-one time with Uraraka, put the moves on her to see if he could get somewhere nice. "What kinda food do you like?"

"Oh, anything sweet would be-" Uraraka cut off her sentence when she saw her friend had rejoined their class, and rushed over to his side, leaving a disappointed Kaminari alone.

"Deku! You're still all banged up! Why didn't she heal your injuries?"

"It turns out his body doesn't have enough stamina to heal Midoriya," Mob said, "So he'll have to go tomorrow after getting a good night's sleep."

"Oh..."

"Yea, but it's no big deal. Like Kageyama said, a good night's sleep is all I'll need to get my stamina back up." Izuku's eyes awkwardly shifted his eyes all around the room, but his eyes widened when he noticed a particular desk was empty.

"Hey guys, where did Kacchan go?"

"Bakugo..." The atmosphere in the classroom grew slightly heavier, and some of the students shifted uncomfortably in their places.

"He already left for the day," said Uraraka, "We tried to tell him not to go, but he wouldn't listen."

"He took his loss pretty hard," stated Kirishima.

The green-eyed teenager's throat constricted. He remembered what Bakugo had said, how he thought he was lying about his quirk all of these years. The teenager couldn't just let him leave, thinking all these negative thoughts. He had to talk to him.

Without warning, Izuku rushed out the door, eliciting gasps of surprise from the students. Mob instantly knew what his friend was planning to do, and went off after him.

"Wait, Midoriya!" The formerly quirkless fanboy stopped when he heard his friend calling out to him.

"I'm not sure talking to him right now is the best idea. He's just too..." The esper struggled for a second to find the right word. "Violent."

"Trust me, Kageyama, I know more than anyone how violent he can be. But there're still things I need to tell him, and it can't wait." The young esper saw the hardened features on his friend's face, his first clenched with resolve. Whenever he had a face like that, it meant that he was going to see something through, and nothing the esper could say would stop him.

"Ok. But at least let me go with you. There're still a few things I want to talk to him about too." The esper was also slightly worried that Bakugo might attack Midoriya like he'd tried to attack Mob before, but he didn't really want to tell that to his friend.

"Alright." Midoriya had no objections to having his close friend accompany him, so the two students ran together through the school. After less than a minute of running, they finally reached the entrance of the school.

"There he is." The esper pointed at the hot-headed teenager walking alone, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"Kacchan!" Midoriya and Kageyama sprinted toward their classmate, who had fortunately for them decided to stop instead of blatantly ignore them. Bakugo turned his head, preparing to give his usual angry stare, but when he saw that Mob was with him, that stare grew more venomous.

"What do you two want?"

Both teenagers abruptly stopped in nervousness. Kageyama was silent, deciding to wait for Midoriya to speak his mind. After all, the esper had spoken his mind to Bakugo already, and it appeared as though what Midoriya wanted to say was very important to him.

Indeed it was. In the formerly quirkless teenager's mind, he was battling over the decision to reveal the truth of his quirk, what had happened to him. This was a secret that he'd hidden from everyone, including his mother. Only All Might and Shigeo knew the truth. Even so, it just felt wrong for Midoriya to have Bakugo suffering like this, led under the belief that he'd been tricking him as a form of mockery. He had to try and make things right.

"I have to tell you about something. Maybe then, you'll understand what's going on."

Mob's eyebrows drew together, and his eyes widened. What was Midoriya doing?

"I wasn't hiding my quirk from you." The bowl-haired teenager lost his breath. What was he talking about? What was he planning on saying right now?

The esper's heart began to race once he put the pieces together. Midoriya was planning to tell him about One for All! But why? That was a secret both of them swore to guard, so why did he want to tell Bakugo the truth about it now?

"It was-"

"It was something he chose not to rely on." Midoriya let out a stifled gasp, and Bakugo felt the vein in his forehead throb. Kageyama had taken the reins of the conversation.

"Instead of focusing on his quirk, he spent all these years working towards his goal in a different way. He put his efforts into learning everything he could about heroes, what they're like, and what kind of hero he wanted to be. It's only now that he's put his effort into working on his quirk. It was something he earned after years of effort and dedication, and it's how he was able to hold his own against you in the match, even if he was overpowered later on."

Mob turned his head to stare Izuku in the eyes, and the teenager was left speechless by the look of determination and seriousness dancing in his eyes. That kind of look, it was something he'd rarely seen from his friend. The only times he ever showed that kind of fire was during their training, when they pushed themselves to the limit.

"And that's the truth."

For a split second, it was as if Bakugo had vanished. All that was there was the fierce bond of friendship and respect. Midoriya picked up that part of the reason for this interruption was to conceal the truth about One for All, but there was something else. Mob was expressing his true thoughts; even if some of the facts were slightly twisted, everything he was saying was a reflection of the kind of person Midoriya was in Mob's eyes.

"Kageyama..." The green-eyed teenager's lips began to tremble, and he could feel his eyes begin to water. The esper truly viewed him as a worthy successor of One for All and a good person. Out of respect and gratitude for his friend's kind words, the fanboy decided to conceal the truth about how he was given this quirk. He'd never intended to tell him who he got it from, but it was still a big secret to reveal nevertheless.

Midoriya quickly got a hold of his emotions and directed himself back at Bakugo, who'd been momentarily stunned silent by the esper's words and interruption. Izuku wasn't finished with what he had to say.

"I don't really have any control of my quirk," said Midoriya, "It's why I didn't want to use it against you in the exercise. But I was left with no other choice if I wanted to win." The hot-headed teenager's blood was boiling, his teeth clenching up with fury.

"There're still so many things I need to learn, that's obvious. It's why I'm here at this school. But you'll see, Kacchan. Soon, I'll have full control over my quirk, and I'll finally beat you with my own power!"

Silence befell all three yet again, their mouths opened with shock at the proud declaration Izuku had just made. That wasn't what Izuku wanted to say! All he wanted was to try and put things into perspective and make Kacchan understand what he was thinking.

"So that's why you're here?" The hot-headed teenager's eyes were at the ground, unable to stare either in the eye as he expressed his thoughts. "To rub in your victory? I lost, to you of all people! And as if that wasn't enough, I lost a second time against you, bowl-cut!"

Izuku jerked his head back. "Lost a second time?" The fanboy turned to his friend and noticed him shift uncomfortably in his place. "What is he-"

"DON'T YOU TELL DEKU A DAMN THING!" Midoriya and Kageyama jumped up at the sudden explosive increase in his voice. "What happened is between me and him!

"I've been coming behind you ever since we met, bowl-cut! You've always proven that you're better than me, and today proved that if we fought one-on-one, I wouldn't stand a chance! And it's not just you! I saw what that ice guy could do! I can't go up against that kind of power!"

The teenager slapped his hand over his eyes and shot his head up to the sky. "Fuck! I even agreed with what that girl said about my attack! It was completely idiotic!"

The teenager rushed his hands through his hair and pulled it as hard as he could.

"FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!"

The explosive teenager brought his head down to look at both classmates, and the esper grimaced at the tears forming in his eyes. He hadn't realized how deep these losses were for Bakugo, how they almost completely destroyed his pride. That had never been his intention, to shoot down Bakugo's pride. He just wanted to try and make him see things a different way, stop his violence against Midoriya.

"So enjoy your victories, both of you! You won't get any more! You said that Midoriya was better because of all his time he put into studying other pro heroes and learning the basics, right, bowl-cut? Then I'll put in twice the amount of effort and learn more than either of you! I'm gonna end up the number one hero and surpass everyone in this school, and neither of you is gonna get in my way!"

Refusing to listen to anything more, the fiery student turned around and headed for the exit while wiping away his tears with his sleeve. As the two friends watched him leave, Midoriya let out a sigh of relief, while the esper felt his arms grow heavy and his shoulders pull low, regretful of how things had turned out.

"Bakugo!" Midoriya and Kageyama were nearly knocked off their feet when All Might ran beside them, heading straight for the tearful teenager. "I've finally found you!"

The symbol of peace placed both of his hands on the teenager's shoulders. He'd seen how Bakugo was overflowing with pride and the impact of his loss, and knew that it was his responsibility to counsel him and help him to cope with his loss.

"Just so you know, pride is a very important part of a hero's personality, and you undoubtedly have the abilities to become an excellent pro hero, but there's still plenty of things you need to learn."

"Let me go, All Might." The symbol of peace tilted his head. Bakugo did not take pleasure or solace in the fact that the number one hero had come to give him emotional support. He didn't need help from him or anyone else.

"Save your words. You'll see: I'll become even more famous than you, and I'll do it by myself!"

The pro hero awkwardly complied, backing away while letting the young teenager go off on his own. A sweat bead ran down his face. It looked as though he managed to get over his loss. Being a teacher was a lot harder than being a pro hero.

None of the three male classmates knew that watching from the window were three female classmates, Ashido, Uraraka, and Asui.

"I wonder what they talked about," pondered Ashido.

"It's a fated battle between rivals. Childhood friends turned enemies, although I'm not sure why Bakugo's so angry with Kageyama," uttered Uraraka.

"Whatever those two were saying," Tsu continued, "It seemed like Bakugo really wanted to punch them both, Kageyama in particular." The frog-like girl stared at the bowl-haired esper for a few moments, pondering everything she's seen from him so far.

"Do any of you two find Kageyama interesting?"

Ashido's curiosity piqued, a small yet devilish smile forming on her face. "What do you mean by that?"

"I'm not sure. There's something about him, something different from anyone I've seen before. He doesn't act like you'd expect from someone with such a strong quirk." Tsu couldn't help but feel drawn to the esper. He seemed quiet and reserved, never openly bragging about his powers the way she'd seen other students like Bakugo and even other heroes did. She also noticed the way he spoke his mind, even with teachers like Aizawa. Tsu wanted to see how much more there was to him.

"I see where you're coming from," Uraraka expressed, "He's not what I thought he'd be. He's actually really nice." The bob-haired girl's face became upturned. "That's what I like about him."

Back outside, the symbol of peace walked toward the two teenagers. "So what were you three talking about before I made my heroic entrance? Come on, tell me all the juicy details!"

"Oh-" The two teenagers felt their bodies tense up when the hero leaned in while putting his hand to his ear for dramatic effect. Both of them didn't quite know how to go about explaining what just happened to the hero. Besides, there really wasn't that much to tell in general. Actually...

"All Might, there's something I need to tell you." Both Midoriya and Toshinori tilted their heads to the side when they noticed the esper's face turn downcast. When the rest of the day passed, one of the heaviest things weighing on the young teenager was how he'd lied to All Might about what happened with Bakugo in the alley. Even though the hot-headed teenager had chosen to lie about it, the esper couldn't simply ignore this and go on as if it never happened. No, he needed to confess to both All Might and Izuku about his burst of anger.

"When you found Bakugo and I outside in the alley, we'd..." Mob's neck bent further downward, the feeling of guilt heavy in his chest. "We'd just finished fighting."

"What!" Both users of One for All gasped. Izuku had heard what Bakugo had said about a confrontation with Kageyama, but he didn't believe it escalated to a full-out fight!

The esper's body hunched even further in shame. "After the match was over, I confronted Bakugo over what had happened. I tried explaining to him that his quirk didn't make him better, that Midoriya proved himself based on his training and not his quirk. He lunged at me, and I couldn't hold it in anymore. The anger."

All Might grimaced: he should've seen that coming. He'd seen how concerned and angry Kageyama had gotten, seeing Midoriya beaten so badly by Bakugo. He'd also seen first-hand what happened when he let his emotions explode, how much damage they could cause. He should've put two-and-two together.

"Then what happened?" asked All Might.

"Once my anger exploded, I used my powers against him, sinking him into the ground. I didn't hurt him badly, but I warned him to never hurt you again, Midoriya." A part of the green-eyed teenager was flattered to know his friend put such a priority on his safety.

"I know I shouldn't have attacked him like I did, but Bakugo..." The esper's hands balled into fists, "What Bakugo did to you was horrible, Midoriya. I'd tried to tell him before not to use his powers to hurt others, but he didn't listen. I felt I had no other choice, that this was the only way to talk some sense into him. Even so, I never intended to hurt his pride as bad as I did." The bowl-haired student's eyes met the number one hero, and Toshinori instantly saw Mob's eyes dancing with shame and regret.

_32%_

"So I'm sorry for what happened."

All Might was unsure of how to go about this. It was obviously wrong for Kageyama to turn to violence like he did. At the same time, he'd only done so after trying to talk things out with Bakugo before, and like he said, when he felt there was no other way. Kageyama, of all people, would never turn to violence as his first option.

"Don't be so sad. Bakugo wasn't badly injured, so I don't see a reason to make a bigger deal out of this than needed. I also bear some responsibility for this: as his teacher, I should have reprimanded Bakugo more for his behavior during the test. More importantly..."

The symbol of peace placed his hand on the esper's shoulder, eliciting a small gasp from Mob. "You stood up for your friend. You saw that he was being hurt, and you decided to do something about it, even if the method may not have been the best one."

Mob was shocked to see how accepting All Might was of the situation, even knowing what he did was bad. "Th-Thank you, All Might."

"Just make sure you don't allow yourself to lose control against him like that again."

The psychic's body straightened in respect and obedience. "I promise!"

Izuku's verdant eyes sparkled, and he placed his left hand on Mob's left shoulder. "Thanks for standing up for me. It makes me glad to know you're looking out for me."

Both teenagers exchanged small smiles, having yet another close moment that continued to solidify their friendship.

Izuku and Toshinori's smiles widened. However, now that the esper had finished revealing his secret, Midoriya felt it was time to reveal his secret of the conversation that took place with Bakugo just now.

"All Might..." Izuku copied Mob's physical expressions, and All Might's head tilted once again. "You were asking what we were talking about with Bakugo just now." Like Mob, his head lowered further in shame. "I almost revealed the the truth about One for All, that it was a quirk given to me."

All Might's eyes gaped open. Why would Midoriya try to tell Bakugo, a student, about One for All.

"Thankfully, Kageyama stepped in and stopped me from spilling the secret. I'm not sure why I had the impulse to confess the truth. I mean, I haven't even told my mother about it. I just felt it was only fair that he knew, because he felt I was mocking him by lying about my quirk for several years."

Once All Might heard the explanation and saw the same look of regret, he decided to go the same route as he did with Kageyama. After all, Midoriya wasn't someone motivated by pride or to show off.

"If you stopped yourself from telling the truth, then you don't have to worry. However, remember the importance of keeping One for All a secret. If the world knew about this quirk, how it can be passed on, then you've become a prime target for villains all over the world. Keeping this quirk a secret is not only to protect you, but to protect the world. Do you understand?"

The formerly quirkless teenager firmly nodded. All Might turned his head towards Mob.

"Good job for stepping in and stopping Midoriya from revealing the secret, Kageyama. And-" The symbol of peace turned his head towards both teenagers now.

"Thank both of you for telling me the truth."

"Of course," replied Shigeo, "After everything you've done for me, for us, it's only fair that I be fully honest with you."

Upon hearing these words, All Might felt a sharp pang in his chest. Full honesty. Shigeo had been nothing but fully honest with him ever since they'd met, but as for All Might...

"Now that we've settled everything, how about we head back to class, Kageyama?"

"Yep."

"Excellent idea!"

The three righteous souls walked together back into the school. What a day it'd been. Bakugo had lost to his childhood friend, Izuku and Shigeo had reigned victorious in the battle exercises, and an even hotter fire was lit inside of Bakugo as a result. Even with that hotter fire, it would not deter Izuku Midoriya from surpassing him and becoming the hero he'd always dreamed of. He'd be a hero, no matter what it took.

* * *

**How'd you like that? The battle between Mob and Bakugo ended with Bakugo being dominated, as you expected, but then you got to see how Mob and Yaoyorozu fared against Todoroki and Shoji! Next chapter, you'll see how Mob and Izuku will fare with the upcoming threat and what it'll mean for Class 1-A!**


	12. Unwanted Guests

All Might's recruitment as a teacher at U.A. High had brought some unwanted attention. Being the Symbol of Peace, the media constantly went after him. They were always on the lookout for All Might whenever he was patrolling, trying to see where he ran off to, whatever they could to get some juicy info on the number one hero. All Might was already quite the media savvy: he didn't see a problem with speaking to the public, showing his face on-camera and letting the masses know what the Symbol of Peace was like.

However, the past few years, the media had become even more crazed. Because of the time limit on his powers, he'd become a bit more of a rare site for the masses and the media to see. But now that news outlets knew he'd be a teacher and be in one place for most of the day, they all rushed to the high school to get a glimpse of the number one hero and get some juicy details on him in the process.

Walking to the entrance of the school, Shigeo Kageyama was baffled by the number of people standing at the entrance. Who were they? The esper took note of the many cameras and microphones in their hands, and put together the fact that they were reporters. But what were they all doing, crowding themselves at the entrance?

"Hey you!" A young woman with a blue suit, short brown hair wrapped in a ponytail, and a yellow bandana wrapped around her left arm noticed Mob coming up from the entrance, and the crowd of people swarmed around him. The teenage esper felt his entire body become paralyzed, a blush creeping up on his cheeks.

"What's it like working so closely with All Might," asked the lady, putting the microphone to the esper's face. Mob felt his mind go into a momentary shutdown: if they knew this child was actually living with All Might, they would feed on him like a school of bloodthirsty sharks. What should he say?

"Ummm..."

_37%_

The psychic remained silent for a few seconds, causing the impatience of the news reporters to increase. Eventually, the young teenager managed to work up the nerve to speak up, although his voice was barely above a whisper. "Sorry, I've got to get to class."

The esper had spoken so fast, the news reporters could barely hear what Mob had said, and before they could ask him to repeat himself, he'd already run off. The news reporter could see this wasn't someone who they could get some good info out of.

Now out of the sight of the mass media, the esper was frantically breathing. He felt a tight pain in his chest, and he fiercely clutched his chest. The teenager's face was riddled with sweat, and he felt his heart going crazy. Mob couldn't believe how badly he was freaking out.

This was exactly what happened before at his middle school, during the class president election speech. He'd been coaxed into the idea of running for class president by Mezato, believing it would give him enough of a social standing to impress Tsubomi.

However, it went horribly wrong: when he was up on the stage, his brain had frozen up. He'd never really had any interest in the position itself, and he had absolutely no idea what to say to impress his classmates, to sell himself as a class president. So for five minutes, he'd stood on that stage like an idiot, his throat clamped shut while he trembled with fear. That had been a major blow to his pride: the event had not only showed the entire school how nervous and socially awkward he was, but had also shown him how terrible he was at public speaking, at presenting himself with confidence. It was why now, he could think of nothing to say to the news reporters and ran away like an idiot.

"How is All Might faring as a teacher? What have you learned from him?"

Shigeo looked back and noticed Iida being surrounded by the news reporters. But when they were questioning the blue-haired teenager, instead of trembling or awkwardly mumbling, he spoke with a a very eloquent and advanced reply.

"His leadership and wisdom serve as a constant reminder of the fact that I attend the world's most prestigious educational institution. As you would expect, he is the epitome of honor and integrity, but he's also more than willing to show his humorous side-"

Iida's lengthy response to the reporter's question was not what they were looking for, and all of them drooped their eyes and cameras in boredom. Shigeo, on the other hand, felt a growing sense of amazement and jealousy. His confidence, his lack of hesitation, and ability to give an immediate, well thought-out response were all things the esper was severely lacking.

Mob sighed: even after all the training he put himself through, it wasn't enough to build up the confidence he'd desired. With his chin tilted down and a bitter smile on his face, the esper paced into the school, ready for the day's events to go on as expected.

The news reporters were becoming desperate: they'd asked a few of the other students for any inside facts about the symbol of peace, but none of them had shared anything notable. It was ridiculous! It was high-time they get some good info from the number one hero himself!

"Sir, could you please just get All Might for us?" The news-lady turned her attention to one of the teachers of U.A. High, Mr. Aizawa, who was never a fan of the media. Because of this, the unkempt teacher refused to accommodate the reporters in any way, shape, or form.

"All Might's not on-campus today. Now leave: you've disturbed the students enough as it is." The faculty member casually walked to his class, leaving all of the info-hungry news reporters waiting at the entrance.

"Hold on!" yelled the news-lady, "My viewers want to know how All Might's adjusting to his life as a teacher!" Not even bothering to give a short glance back, the reporter's body began to tremble with rage. How dare he act with such impertinence.

"So that's how it's going to be then? Fine! Then I'll just have to get All Might myself!"

The reporter decided to go into the school, but as soon as her foot reached through the gate, an alarm immediately sounded. The front gate was immediately closed off with several steel walls rising up from the ground. Those steel walls rose up around the entire campus, ensuring that none of the reporters tried anything funny and snuck over the walls. These were the defenses put up by U.A. High to ensure that no villains or unauthorized individuals would enter the school.

The security system was now more vital than ever: with the exciting news of All Might's recruitment to U.A. High, people in Japan and all over the world wanted the chance to see All Might in-person. And that didn't just apply to news reporters.

Standing behind the crowd of reporters angrily mulling over their lack of proper info, a man with plain black pants, a matching long-sleeved v-neck shirt, short blue hair, and blood-red eyes. Like the reporters, he was waiting for the opportunity to see the symbol of peace. But in this man's mind, this would be the first and only time he'd see All Might, for today would be the day the number one hero drew his last breath.

* * *

In Class 1-A, the students were uneasy as they watched their homeroom teacher walk to the podium. Their last experience with Mr. Aizawa wasn't a very pleasant one, and they were unsure what possible lecture or punishment he would dish out to them. Fortunately, none of the teenagers' statuses as students were going to be threatened by the homeroom teacher today.

"I went over all of your performances from yesterday's combat training by looking over the multiple video feeds and going over the reviews All Might made, and all of you did acceptable jobs. Bakugo."

The hot-headed teenager sneered when he heard his teacher call his name. "You have very impressive skills and a good handle on your quirk. So don't sulk about your loss like a little kid." Bakugo's frown widened for a split second, but then his lips morphed into a neutral line, and his eyes averted themselves towards the wall.

"Whatever," muttered the teenager.

"As for you, Midoriya," When the green-haired teenager heard his name, his heart jumped, and his head craned down to stare at his lap. Shigeo nervously tapped his desk, knowing how harsh his teacher was toward Izuku.

"It appears that the only way you won was by destroying your body again." The teenager's head lowered further, a bead of sweat trickling down the side of his face. "You must work harder, and that excuse you have of lacking control over your quirk is getting old pretty fast. You can't keep breaking your body while training here."

Mob's finger began to tap at a much faster rate. Once again, their homeroom teacher was laying into his friend very hard, disregarding all of the good he did during the exercise and the way he'd proven himself through his determination. It seemed Mr. Aizawa wasn't very keen on complimenting Izuku anytime soon.

"Once you get a handle on your quirk, though, it'll prove to be extremely useful." This positive statement filled the green-haired teenager with renewed energy, and he looked up at his teacher with wide eyes and a light blush on his cheeks. Similarly, the esper felt a small smile creeping up on his face. It looked like Mr. Aizawa wasn't as cold-hearted as he'd taken him to be.

With the two students having gotten their critiques from Mr. Aizawa, the teacher decided to transition to the more important matter that was on-hand.

"Now, the first task today will decide your very future." This statement brought a lot of gravity, and the students tensed up in their seats, wondering what kind of task would warrant such strong words from the unkempt teacher. Was it another quirk test? Would they have to worry about being expelled yet again?

"You're all going to have to pick a class representative." The students all took inner sighs of relief at the fact this was not a matter that would affect their status as students. However, the idea of being class representative was a golden opportunity that many of the students wanted, and they immediately jumped to take the position.

"Yo, pick me! I'll be class rep!"

"I'm up for the task!"

"Count me in too!"

"Someone with style would be best suited for the job!"

Shigeo and Izuku were taken aback by the disorderly and passionate manner in which the students tried to greedily take the position. For the esper, not only was he not interested in the idea of being a representative for this class, but he did not even understand what the job would entail. Izuku, however, knew that there were many bonuses that came with being class representative. Since the class rep would be leading the class, it would give them the chance to be noticed by many hero agencies and prove yourself as a leader. It was why the verdant-eyed fanboy slowly raised his hand a few inches off of the desk, barely enough to be noticed.

"Silence, all of you!" Tenya Iida was watching this scene with disgust at the unorganized and irresponsible manner the students were going about this. "The mission of the class representative is to lead their classmates with respect and honor! It is not something that anyone can do! In order to take the mantle of this title, you must first gain the trust of all of the classmates, so they can all unite under that representative. Therefore, the most practical way of choosing our class representative is democratically! An election should be prepared for the position!"

The spectacled teenager raised his hand, his body trembling at the fear of rejection. Many of his classmates rolled their eyes at his blatant attempt to get the classmates to vote for him. Kageyama, on the other hand, was yet again amazed by the way in which Iida took charge of the situation with such confidence and control. He was able to bring down the energy level and come up with a reasonable solution to the issue at hand.

Nevertheless, the students weren't sure an election was the best way to go about this. One of those students was Tsu. "Are you sure this is what we should do? We've only known each other for a few days, so how do we know who's the best candidate?"

"Yea, and everybody's probably gonna vote for themselves anyway," added Kirishima.

"Yes, that will likely be the case for most people. But that only proves that the person who does receive the most votes has left such an impression on the class and therefore be the most suitable individual for the job," argued Iida. The blue-haired teenager attempted to get the support of his teacher.

"This is the best method, right, Mr. Aizawa?"

The unkempt hero lazily disregarded the arguments being made for this method, seeing it as irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. "Whatever gets the job done. Just finish it before my nap's over." The hero snuggled himself into his yellow sleeping bag and dozed off on the floor.

"Thank you for your support!" Iida proceeded to rip up a sheet of paper into twenty pieces and handed each of the students a piece of paper. "Everyone grab a pen and write down the name. Once everyone's finished, we'll gather all of the votes and tally the results."

The students rummaged through their backpacks and grabbed a pen to write their names. However, Kageyama was facing a very difficult dilemma over whose name to write. There was no way he was writing his own name, but there were three people who he thought would be worthy of the job: Midoriya, Yaoyorozu, and Iida. Midoriya was his friend, the classmate with whom he was closest and someone who'd put in a lot of time and effort to get to this school. Yaoyorozu had proven herself during the training exercise, leading him with her input and helping them achieve victory. Lastly, Iida had demonstrated his very serious, keen and dutiful nature, presenting himself with such resolve and dedication that managed to leave a large impression within only a short period of time. So who would be the best option? Who was the person Mob felt was most deserving of the title?

After a few more seconds of self-reflection and consideration, the powerful esper decided to make his choice. Mob quickly scribbled down the name on the piece of paper, and put it in the large pile of papers.

Everybody put their names on the chalkboard, and in order to be impartial, Mr. Aizawa read over the names and tallied the results on the board. In the end, there were only two people who got more than one vote: Midoriya and Yaoyorozu with three and two votes respectively.

Midoriya gasped when he saw his first-place spot. "What?! How did I get three votes?"

Bakugo acted as everyone expected him to: he jumped out of his seat and slammed his hands on his desk. "Ok, who the hell was stupid enough to vote for him?"

"Oh come on," exclaimed Sero, "You really think anybody'd vote for you?"

While the hot-headed teenager lost his composure, the bob-haired girl whistled while staring at the wall. Perhaps it'd be better to keep her vote a secret. While this was happening, the blue-haired teenager's eyes were widely opened, his body trembling in disappointment at the fact that no votes had been cast for him.

"Zero votes. A part of me was afraid this would happen," muttered Iida, "But I'm the one who came up with the system! I have no right to contest it!"

Kageyama was surprised to see Iida made this decision. The esper believed that with his enthusiasm to offer himself as a candidate, he'd follow everyone else's initiative and vote for himself. But no, he chose someone else he thought was worthy instead. For Kageyama, while it had been a difficult decision, his heart had predictably swayed toward his closest friend in the class. Seeing firsthand all the effort and knowledge Izuku had and the passion to become a hero, the esper only saw it fitting that he be class representative.

However, as the esper looked on the board, he took in a faint gasp: someone had voted for him. It didn't take long to figure out who'd decided he was best fit for the job: the esper exchanged glances with Midoriya, who gave a shaky smile. Although the green-haired fanboy had initially considered writing down his own name, he thought to himself, whether that was truly the right course of action. After a few moments of thought, he believed that Shigeo would be a good representative both for his amazing power and the dedication he was capable of putting into certain tasks. He'd trained alongside him for ten months, after all, so he knew what kind of determination Kageyama could bring when he put his mind to it. Still, it looked like nobody else wanted to follow his lead and vote for the esper.

"Ok, so the class rep is Midoriya, and the deputy is Yaoyorozu."

Midoriya and Yaoyorozu stood in front of the classroom. The green-haired teenager was trembling with surprise and fear: this was actually real? Midoriya never imagined his classmates viewed him with enough admiration to elect him to such a prestigious position in the class. Standing beside him, the tall girl sighed and shook her head in disappointment.

"I can't believe it. I really thought I had a chance."

The other students didn't see any problem with the way the election turned out. After all, they'd all seen what these two had done during the training exercises and knew what they'd done and what they were capable of. Unfortunately, the spectacled teenager was still quite troubled by his loss and the lack of impact he'd made on his classmates. Truth is, he'd been one of the three who voted for Midoriya, for it was him who figured out what the judges were looking for in the Entrance Exam, who acted courageously and displayed impressive strategy during the high-pressure situation. Even so, having lost this opportune moment to make a difference in the class was quite a blow for young Iida...

* * *

Dining in the cafeteria, the four friends Kageyama, Midoriya, Uraraka, and Iida were all enjoying their meals while their fellow students waited in line. However, one of the four friends didn't really have an appetite. Holding his chopsticks with his right fingers while holding the bowl with his left hand, the fanboy was already having great doubts over his newly appointed position. Winning was something akin to a pipe dream for Izuku, and he never imagined that success would actually be his.

"Guys, I'm not sure I'm ready for this," exclaimed Izuku, "I mean, I'm not qualified for such an important position."

As one would imagine, Mob was the first to comfort him. "Don't say that. You're really smart and passionate, and you've got a lot of skills for this position."

"Quite correct, Kageyama," continued Iida, "Not only do you display intelligence, but you possess a courageous heart and the ability to think quickly under pressure, as well as your remarkable physical strength. Those are the reasons why I voted for you."

The adjacent students were all surprised by this revelation from Iida. "Wait, you were one of the three people who voted for me?"

"But didn't you really want to be the rep?" questioned the bowl-haired esper, remembering how adamant his spectacled classmate was in electing himself.

Tenya took a small sip from his orange juice and closed his eyes. "Wanting a position and being qualified for that position are two very different things. That's a valuable lesson that I learned from the Iida family's hero agency."

All three students arched their eyebrows with curiosity. Hero agency? What was that about?

This newest facet of information caused Uraraka's brain to piece it together with another nugget of information she'd stumbled across. "Hang on a second. There's something that I've been wondering about you, and now that I think about it..."

The female's face lit up with glee, and she clenched both her fists with excitement. "Your family's filthy rich, isn't it!"

Iida gasped, stammering at the fact that his secret had been found out by his classmates. After the initial shock, the teenager sighed and closed his eyes, deciding to spill his secrets now that Uraraka had disclosed his family's wealth. "This was something I'd intended to keep under wraps so that others wouldn't treat me differently."

Midoriya and Uraraka leaned their heads forward, their eyes widening in burgeoning curiosity, while Kageyama's eyes were only nominally widened, his expression as apathetic as usual.

"My family has worked as pro heroes for generations. Heroics are a part of our bloodline."

Midoriya and Uraraka took in sharp gasps, their smiles widening as their eyes brightened.

"Are the three of you familiar with the Turbo hero, Ingenium?"

Midoriya, being the hero expert he was, immediately recognized the name, his cheeks lightly staining with red from the building excitement. "Yea Ingenium! I know all about him: he's a really popular pro hero who has sixty five sidekicks working for him at his agency in Tokyo." However, the formerly quirkless teenager formulated a possibility in his mind, putting the pieces together. "Wait, are you-"

Seeing that the green-haired teenager had caught on, Iida smiled and proudly placed his hands on his sides while he stood up in triumph. "Yes! I am Ingenium's younger brother!"

"Oh my god! You're family's famous!" Uraraka said with bubbly excitement.

"Ingenium is an unmatched commander who leads his sidekicks with honor and dignity, upholding the family name in every way possible!"

"Wow." While Uraraka and Midoriya were obsessing over the fact that Iida was part of a family of pro-heroes, the teenage esper was more interested in the passion, the pride with which Iida spoke of his brother. "You're really proud of your brother, aren't you?"

"Absolutely," replied the blue-haired student, beaming with pride, "As the second oldest Iida son, I strive to be just like him."

Mob could see the brotherly admiration Iida had, for it reflected his own admiration for his little brother, Ritsu. His brother he possessed all the skills Mob utterly lacked, and also had the status and popularity that he yearned to achieve. For Iida, it seemed that what he admired most about his older brother was his status as a hero, his position as a leader of many, and the confidence he gathered from those around him. Mob smiled to himself: looked like there was more than one person who wanted to live up to a sibling's name.

"Sadly, I haven't developed the skills necessary to become an effective leader. For you, Midoriya, it's different." The green-haired teenager's eyebrow raised up. "You managed to immediately deduce what the judges were looking for on the exam. That's exactly the sort of insight a class rep needs, something that I lack."

_41%_

"Don't be so hard on yourself." The bowl-haired esper interjected once again to voice his honest opinions, seeing the lack of confidence in his blue-haired friend. "I think you would be an amazing class rep. You're able to react to situations very well, you take everything you do very seriously, and you do everything with a level-head. Remember that All Might chose you as the MVP for the exercise yesterday because you followed the rules and did everything right, even if you lost in the end."

The younger brother of Ingenium was stricken by the words of praise coming from Kageyama, his cheeks lightly blushing while his dark blue eyes brightened. Kageyama was taken aback by this reaction: he did not expect his words to have such an impact on his friend. What he failed to understand was that not only were his words sincere, but coming from such an unbelievably powerful student as him, they only held more gravity.

"I'm- I'm flattered by your praise, Kageyama," Iida muttered after overcoming his initial shock, "Thank you."

"Kageyama's right," continued Midoriya, for he similarly saw Iida in a very positive light, possessing qualities that he did not. Furthermore, he was not as perceptive as Iida believed him to be, only saving Uraraka because she needed to be saved, not because he knew that the judges would be scoring based on heroic deeds. Now was the time for him to clear that up.

"Also, about the practical exam-"

Midoriya was abruptly interrupted by a blaring alarm. All of the students in the cafeteria tensed up, wondering what was the cause for panic.

"Attention all students! There is a Level 3 Security Breach! Please evacuate the building in an orderly fashion!" Most of the students jumped out of their seats and began sprinting for the door. The four class 1-A students, on the other hand, were a bit slower to react, not knowing exactly what the cause for alarm was. Iida attempted to answer this question and turned his attention to an adjacent upper class-men.

"What's a Level 3 Security Breach?" Iida questioned.

"That means someone managed to infiltrate the school's barriers! This's never happened in the three years that I've been here! This is freaking serious!" The student pushed himself off the seat and sprinted for the exit along with the rest of the students, and the other four students followed his lead. However, they almost instantly regretted this decision: with more than one hundred students all crammed into a single hallway, there was almost no breathing room for anyone. Packed like pigs in a pen, the students were becoming hostile, angrily shoving one another while being shoved back in response. In the massive thrall of bodies, the four friends were surrounded on all sides, wincing in pain as elbows jabbed into their ribs.

"They all moved very quickly! As expected from U.A. High!" Iida remarked.

"Maybe, but this crowd is ridiculous!" The green-haired teenager was promptly shoved to the side by another body.

"Kageyama!" The bowl-haired esper tried to reach his hand out to his friend, but there were too many bodies in the way. Attempting to make his way out of the massive crowd and get to the bottom of this, Iida moved himself toward the window to spot the intruders.

"Who could've possibly managed to get onto school grounds?" The blue-haired student's lips straightened into a neutral line when he saw a mass of people standing in front of the gate. "Hold on a second, that's... the press!"

Having managed to get through the main gate, the hungry reporters were now charging toward the front door, their cameras ready and their notebooks out.

"I thought this was some sort of large-scale villain attack, but it's just the media?" Iida attempted to calm down the rowdy students. "Everyone stop! There's no need to worry! It's just news reporters!" Alas, the spectacled teenager's words fell on deaf ears. Everyone was so panicked, so focused on getting out the door and somewhere safe. Even so, it didn't make sense why there were no teachers hear to handle the situation, put the students at ease and inform them of what was happening. Did that mean Iida was the only one who knew there was nothing to worry about? There had to be a way to grab everyone's attention, get them to stop their repetitive shoving and snap them back to their senses. To do that, however, he'd need something that would stare them right in the face...

"Kageyama!" The esper heard his name being called out by his fellow classmate.

"I'm here! What is it?"

"I need you to use your telekinesis to lift me into the air!"

_45%_

Mob didn't really put any thought into why Iida would ask him such a thing, and simply did as his friend asked of him. The teenager's body was shrouded in a light blue aura as he floated into the air. This was Iida's first step: he still needed to get somewhere very noticeable, where everyone would have their eyes on him. The location was right in front of him, literally. The tall teenager pulled up the bottom hems of his pants, revealing his engines and allowing them to activate without burning his clothing.

"Engine Burst!" Iida's engines propelled the teenager at high speeds, spinning him around like a bowling ball in the process. However, this motion was very imbalanced and left Iida with little control. As a result, he could not accurately stop himself, and slammed into the wall like a buffoon.

"What is he doing?" said Midoriya.

Iida was barely hanging onto the wall, positioning his feet on top of the exit sign while holding a pipe above him for additional security. Now that was in such a visible position, the blue-haired student could finally inform them of what was happening.

"Everyone, listen up! There's no reason to panic!" All of the students, as expected, turned their attention to the boy standing on the exit sign, silencing themselves while they waited to hear his explanation. "We haven't been attacked! It's only the media! Everything is ok!

"We're students of U.A. High! We need to calm ourselves and prove we're the best!"

The spectating students, including Midoriya and Kageyama, were amazed by the way their classmate had taken control of the situation and reacted so quickly. Both of them could see the faces of the students beginning to loosen, the tension quickly subsiding.

"Hey look! The police are here!" Sure enough, the authorities had been alerted to the breach at U.A. High and had reacted in less than five minutes. With their presence, the news reporters would be quickly escorted off the property, and things would finally calm down.

* * *

After the reporters were promptly removed from the premises, the students all went back to their classes or to their lunches. For those who went to their lunches, they only had ten minutes left before their next classes, unfortunately, forcing them to stuff down whatever they could.

Back in Class 1-A, the students had all returned, and standing at the front of the class, Midoriya and Yaoyorozu were preparing to address their students, while their teacher continued to lazily rest in his sleeping bag.

"Ok, class rep. Class has started, so you're up." The vice representative addressed her superior, who was attempting to compose himself and think of what to say.

"Yea, right." Izuku's shoulders were hunched, and his cheeks were stained with a light red. "We still need to go over who the other class officers will be. But first, there's something I wanna say." The events and conversations that took place after his election made him reflect over the position he was in, whether this was the right place for someone like him. After some thought, he came to realize that he wasn't qualified to hold a position such as this. Like Iida said, wanting a position and being qualified for that position were two very different things. And there was someone else who he thought was more qualified for this position.

"I've given it some thought, and I think..." For a moment, the fanboy's eyes went to his training partner. A part of Midoriya felt that Kageyama showed potential for this position, that his amazing psychic powers would command a lot of attention and respect. But another part of him knew that he'd be just as insecure and meek as he was, and that he'd feel just as flustered if he'd been put into this position. Izuku had spent ten months with the esper, getting to know his personality, his general demeanor, and sadly, Kageyama did not exude confidence. As much as he'd like to vouch for his friend, after seeing what it would take to be a class rep and the many qualities one needed, he felt that Kageyama was not qualified for a job like this.

"I think that Tenya Iida should be the class rep!"

The blue-haired teenager gasped: what was this? Was Midoriya handing his position over to him?

The verdant-eyed student felt his heart-beat rise: would Kageyama be upset? Would he be disappointed that he chose Iida, a student who he'd only known for a few days, instead of the friend who'd tortured himself with the brutal training for ten months?

At first, Midoriya's heart clenched when he saw the esper's initial reaction of shock at this decision. However, the fanboy's heart filled with relief when he saw the esper give him a smile and a small thumbs-up. Like Midoriya, Kageyama had also been very impressed with Iida's quick thinking and reaction to the crisis situation that had unfolded less than thirty minutes ago. Although it was a surprise to see Midoriya give his position up, he was pleased to see that he'd given it over to someone who could do the job right.

"He's the one who took action and got all of the students in order, and he didn't hesitate for a minute to take the lead." Midoriya replicated his friend's smile and extended it towards Iida. "That's why I think he should be the one leading us from now on."

"You know what? I'd be cool with that." Kirishima, having seen Iida's impressive command of the hectic situation, was all for this new arrangement. "I mean, you basically calmed the entire school down if you think about it."

As Kirishima continued speaking, Iida and Midoriya continued staring into each others eyes. Midoriya's eyes were upbeat and pleased, while Iida's eyes were stern and focused. For Iida, not only was Midoriya's offer an extremely generous gift, but also a big responsibility to be placed on his shoulders. It was a weight that the blue-haired teenager was prepared to carry, however. The spectacled teenager stood up from his chair with his eyes closed and his aura sharp.

"If Midoriya is electing me for this job, then-" The teenager raised his hand up in respect. "I shall take this with open arms! I will not let this class down!"

"That's what I like to hear," replied Kirishima, "Manning up to the job!"

The classmates couldn't help but smile at the way this had turned out and the solemnity with which Iida accepted these responsibilities. Kageyama beamed with joy, for Iida had gotten the position he had wanted and the position he was worthy of taking. He looked back at Midoriya, noticing his pleased expression, but also took note of the downcast features on Yaoyorozu's face.

"Come on, I got two more votes than him," muttered Yaoyorozu, "So unfair..."

The esper had been so focused on Iida, he'd completely forgotten about how this affected Yaoyorozu. Now that he thought about it, since she was vice representative, it sort of seemed unfair that she wouldn't be next in-line if Midoriya was stepping down. After all, she also possessed amazing skills and very high intelligence, so class rep was something she was naturally suited to. Mob internally sighed: it was an unfortunate loss for the young girl. Still, in the end, even if she didn't get class rep, she was still vice rep and had plenty of power, so with her and Iida working together, Mob was confident things would work out for the class.

_51%_

"Alright, are we finally done with choosing the reps?" Aizawa, who'd been basically half-asleep during the entire election process and didn't want to bother to speak up until the elections were finished, unzipped his sleeping bag and once again took control of the class. "The two of you, go to your seats."

Midoriya and Yaoyorozu complied and briskly walked to their desks while Aizawa positioned himself in front of the podium and prepared to fill them in on the next set of activities this class was assigned for today.

"With that out of the way, we'll discuss the training exercises you'll all be undertaking today. Unlike the previous days, this exercise will be different." The students tilted their heads at the implications of their teacher's statement.

"The exercise will be supervised by me, All Might, and another faculty member." The teenagers weren't expecting additional supervision: the symbol of peace, along with two other pro-heroes? Why would they go through all that trouble? The most logical answer was that the school was on high-alert after the break-in, and wanted to take precautionary measures to ensure the safety of the students.

"Excuse me, Mr. Aizawa," Mob interjected, "But what kind of training will we be doing today? Will it be more combat training like yesterday?" This was the answer most prevalent for the esper and the one that caused him the most worry. If there were another combat-oriented exercise, Midoriya would more than likely get hurt again.

"No. Today's training," The teacher pulled out a card from his pocket and stuck it out for the students to see, "Is rescue. This revolves around natural disasters, shipwrecks, similar catastrophes."

The psychic took a sigh of relief: not only would Midoriya not have to worry about breaking his bones, but Mob also wouldn't have to use his psychic powers against his classmates. Many of the students were also fine with this change of exercise, finding excitement in their new activity.

"Rescue, huh?" said Kaminari, "Sounds like we're in for a big workout."

"Totally," replied Ashido, waving her hands in the air with glee.

"This is more like it," Kirishima added, his confident smirk plastered on his face. "This kinda stuff's what separates the men from the boys. I dig it."

"There's more." Aizawa continued his announcement, taking command of the rambunctious class. "There's no required clothing for this exercise, and because of that," The teacher pulled out a remote, activating the system within the walls and revealing the costume slots. "You're allowed to wear your costumes. However, remember that you haven't gotten used to them yet, and they might hinder your abilities in some manners. So go on, get changed."

The students obeyed and all got out of their seats. As they all went to get their costumes, Midoriya remained in his seat. This kind of training was very important: it was from a rescue mission that All Might rose to popularity. It was very important work, and something that All Might was very accustomed to. The green-haired teenager clenched his fist with determination: this would bring him one step closer to becoming All Might!

* * *

After quickly changing in the changing room, Class 1-A had gathered outside, where a bus was parked and ready to take them to their destination. As the students all clamored with one another, each of them teeming with excitement over the sort of exciting exercises they would be undertaking, the teenage esper couldn't help but notice the faint but still lingering look of disappointment in Yaoyorozu's eyes. Mob felt that he had to say something to try and ease her disappointment, but he found it difficult to gather the strength to even move from his spot. What the hell was wrong with Mob? Could he really be so meek that he couldn't even walk up and talk to her?

The esper shook himself up and gathered the strength to begin a walking pace. Mob shouldn't be afraid of a simple conversation! Yaoyorozu noticed her classmate walk towards him and greeted him with a small smile. "Kageyama. Is the afternoon treating you well?"

"I'm fine," replied Mob, rubbing the back of his head. "I wanted to say that I'm sorry that you didn't get to be class rep. I could tell that you really wanted the position."

Yaoyorozu's eyes widened, momentarily taken off-guard by Kageyama's consolation for her loss. She did not think anyone would find it of importance or even noticed her disappointment in general. The fact that her classmate had actually taken note of this couldn't help but slightly touch her heart.

"Thank you." The female teenager's head lowered nominally, her lips pressed tightly. "I was indeed hoping I would get the position. It would have given me the opportunity to show my worth and lead the class on a better path."

"That doesn't mean you still can't do that as vice representative," contested Kageyama, "You might not have as much power, but you can still make a big difference."

Yaoyorozu's head tilted up to face Kageyama, her onyx eyes beginning to lightly sparkle with fascination. That single look of awe and light in her eyes was enough to turn Mob's ears red and cause a cascade of sweat to pour down the esper's face.

_58%_

"Kagey-"

The vice rep's sentence was cut short by the loud whistle of her superior, who was already attempting to fulfill his new role as class rep to the best of his abilities.

"Alright everyone! Get into two single-filed lines, organized based on your student numbers, so we can move as efficiently as possible!" Iida made a few more blows of his whistle while chopping his arm down to bring the students into proper formation. Many of the students formed comedic sweat beads: they should've expected something like this from him. He was the most serious one in the class, after all.

Seeing no reason to protest, the students all did as he commanded, and in less than thirty seconds, the entire class had gotten on the bus. However, as soon as they got on the bus, Iida's throat closed up: the layout of the bus was not what he'd had in mind. He thought it would be organized like a regular school bus, with ten rows of seats, and two individuals for each seat. However, this bus had a more open layout, with eight seats facing towards each other and the rest of the seats facing towards the front of the bus.

As the rest of the class got on the bus and had already begun making their way towards the training arena, Iida bent his upper body down in shame. "This bus's layout completely ruined my boarding strategy."

The students sitting adjacent to him couldn't help but smile at their classmate's overly serious demeanor.

"Iida, you really need to chill," remarked Ashido. Sitting together in the front eight-seated area were Midoriya and Kageyama, and in between them was none other than Tsuyu Asui. The short and reserved teenager was a very neutral and seemingly unemotional individual like Mob, and also like Mob, she would often voice her opinions to others whenever she felt the urge. In fact, at the moment, there was something that was on her mind.

"I mean, if you're pointing out the obvious, then there's something I'd like to add," the frog-like teenager's head turned towards Midoriya, confusing the fanboy, "about you, Midoriya." The verdant-eyed student felt a small blush creep up on his cheeks, while Kageyama couldn't help but feel a small sense of uneasiness growing within him.

"Uh, about me, you said? What is it, Asui?"

"I told you to call me Tsu."

"Right, right..."

"Your quirk, I've noticed it's a lot like All Might's." Midoriya and Kageyama felt their bodies freeze up. Crap! Someone had noticed the similarities between their powers!

"Oh really?" Midoriya said, multiple sweat beads beginning to form on his face while his fingers awkwardly twiddled. "I hadn't noticed."

"I don't think they're THAT similar," continued Kageyama.

"Well, you've gotta remember something Tsu." Kirishima, who was among the eight students sitting in the front of the bus, decided to chime in on the conversation. "When All Might uses his quirk, he doesn't hurt himself. That's a huge difference."

The two training partners took stifled sighs of relief. Thank god Kirishima was there to help bail them out of this situation. "Anyway, it's a pretty strong quirk, and if we're talking about strong powers, the ones who've really got some pro quirks are Todoroki, Bakugo, and Kageyama."

Bakugo, whose eyes were lazily gazing out at the scenery rushing on the outside, heard his name and Kageyama's name being mentioned, and moved his eyes away from the window to the conversation they were having.

Kirishima decided to delve further into the last name on his personal list. "Kageyama, I'm especially jealous of you. Your quirk's got so many uses, it's unbelievable."

"It's really impressive," continued Tsu, who wanted to delve deeper into her psychic classmate's quirk, "In fact, your quirk actually has a few similarities to All Might too."

Once again, Izuku and Shigeo were caught off-guard by their peer's comment. "Guess it's just coincidence," Mob retorted, unsure of how to defend himself. Even though he wasn't the next successor of One for All, he didn't want to potentially draw any attention between himself and All Might. That would probably make things a lot worse.

"Though I guess it's not technically the same, since you've also got your telekinesis coupled with it, which gives you a lot of additional uses," Tsu continued. The two friends calmed down: the heat was off of them again.

"Yea man, you freaking rule," Kaminari commented.

"It's quite possibly one of the most powerful quirks I've ever encountered," Iida remarked.

"You're probably the best student in the entire class, maybe in the whole grade!" Ashido complimented.

"Guys, guys..." The bowl-haired esper respectfully put his hands up towards the other students, causing them to go silent out of curiosity. While it was nice to be praised, the esper felt that his classmates were getting a bit too carried away with his psychic powers and what they could do. It was as if that was all they were judging him for. "I appreciate your compliments, but I'm not better than any of you just because I have this quirk."

Everyone on the bus instantly drew their attention towards the powerful esper. Bakugo, whose eyes were only lightly focused on their conversation, set laser-focus on the teenager. The vein on his temple began to throb, and he felt his teeth clenching up: what the hell was the bowl-haired nerd doing? Even the generally apathetic teacher who was simply off in his own world piqued his head over towards his bowl-haired student. Like Tsu, he couldn't help but take more interest in this esper, wondering what he would say now that he had the floor.

"I might be able to do some cool things with my powers, but that doesn't automatically mean I'm better than anyone here because of it. All of you have different strengths and characteristics that I don't have, and I don't mean your quirks and what they can do." The first person whose eyes he went to was Iida.

"It could be your ability to lead," said Mob, trailing his eyes next to his training partner, "Your strong body, or your ability to interact with others. There're plenty of other strengths that don't have to do with your powers. All those abilities are important to live in society, and I'm hoping that I'll be able to improve in those areas while I'm here at U.A."

Everyone was stunned silent. For the hot-headed blonde, he quickly grew irritated. Here this bowl-cut went again, preaching about how unimportant his quirk was or quirks in general were. Not only did it further prove that Kageyama really meant what he told Bakugo after the quirk apprehension test, but that he didn't care what everyone else thought of his power. What the hell was wrong with this guy?

As the shock of the esper's words continued to resonate throughout the bus, the first one to snap out of this shock and express her thoughts was Tsu.

"Wow. Coming from someone with such a strong quirk, that's really saying something," the frog-like girl remarked. With this single comment sharing his own inner thoughts, Tsu's interest and respect for the esper increased several times. His statement proved her assumption that he didn't place all of his value in his quirk, instead valuing more human characteristics and personality traits to define one's worth.

"Kageyama, your humility is truly remarkable." Similarly, Iida was impressed by his classmate's lack or inflated pride, and bowed his head in utter respect.

"Dude." Kirishima was particularly moved by his classmate's humble words, clenching his fist while his body began to lightly shake. "Your words are so manly."

Even the generally taciturn and quiet Tokoyami couldn't help but chime in and express his admiration of his classmate's noble nature. "Humble words indeed, Kageyama."

"Yep." The green-haired fanboy's face beamed with pride and pleasure, and he wrapped his arm around the esper's shoulders. "That's the kind of guy he is." Mob was beginning to feel flustered by all of his praise for his character. For someone who'd spent all of his life being treated as ordinary or unimpressive by his peers, suddenly being praised on a near-daily basis for not just his psychic powers, but for his character, was a very new experience for him.

_64%_

"T-Th-Thank you," Mob muttered, those being the only words the bowl-haired esper could spew out of his mouth.

Sitting beside one another, Uraraka and Yaoyorozu were taken aback by this sincere and humble side of their bowl-haired esper like everyone else.

"God, Kageyama's such a nice guy, isn't he?" Uraraka said, closing her eyes and forming her lips into a smile.

"Yes, he is." Yaoyorozu watched as Kageyama's face continued to ripen like a tomato as their classmates gave him praise. Although he appeared very meek and reserved, Kageyama had a very gentle side to him, which he showed to Yaoyorozu only a few minutes before. It was interesting to see that in someone so powerful, especially when comparing his demeanor to their classmates who had very powerful quirks like Bakugo and Todoroki.

"Huh." Their homeroom teacher gazed at the powerful psychic. Kageyama was nothing like he'd expected. Being a teacher for these past few years had given him a close-up look into the arrogance and confidence of powerful teenager quirk-users, and all of them were obsessed with strengthening their quirk, becoming the best hero they could. But this child? He was nothing like that. Like All Might and the other students, Aizawa simply couldn't help but be drawn towards him, his noble qualities. Where did Kageyama come to think with this kind of mentality?

Aizawa felt the bus beginning to slow down. He looked to the front, and sure enough, they'd arrived at their destination.

"Everybody up. We're here."

The teenagers all did as they were told and vacated the bus in an orderly fashion. Once they got outside to stretch their legs, they got a better view of the area they would be training: it was an extremely large dome with who-knew-what built on the inside.

"Hello, Class 1-A! I've been waiting for you!"

Standing at the entrance of the dome was a person a white , puffy space suit, giving the impression the person inside had a large frame, along with a black helmet adorned white eyes, and a pair of yellow boots. While Kageyama remained as oblivious as ever to who this hero was, many of the other students gasped in amazement, with Midoriya being ready to read off her identity like he was reading off an official hero encyclopedia.

"It's the space hero, Thirteen! She's a pro who's rescued a ton of people from natural disasters all across the world!"

Midoriya clasped his hands over his mouth while his verdant eyes brightened with amazement, but he was not the only one who admired this hero.

"Oh my god!" shouted Uraraka, waving her arms with excitement, "Thirteen's one of my favorite heroes!"

The female hero was pleased at the initial reaction of this class. It seemed that she'd be able to impart upon them some valuable lessons. "Come inside. I can't wait to show you what we've got in store for you."

"This is gonna be awesome!" A good majority of the class recanted this with building fervor, while other students, including Mob, were mostly indifferent and made their way into the building with no high expectations or bubbling anticipation. However, once they saw the sheer magnitude of the arena, all of the students were baffled. Not only was the size unbelievable, but there were multiple different areas with different characteristics. The school really went all-out to design this arena.

"This is like an amusement park!" said Kirishima.

"Each area is meant to replicate a specific disaster: a fire, windstorm, shipwreck, landslide, etc.! I personally designed this facility as a way to give students the proper training for multiple different types of disasters! I call it the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, or just U.S.J!"

"Hold on." The Eraser hero approached his fellow teacher, noticing that there was something amiss. "Where's All Might? I thought he'd be here by now." Aizawa rolled his eyes and looked off to the side. "Lemme guess: he's too busy cuz he scheduled an interview for this time instead?"

"Actually..." Thirteen leaned her head towards the hero. "He spent his morning doing hero work and used up too much of his energy." The space hero held up three fingers, secretly signifying the amount of time he'd used up in his muscular form. "He's resting right now in the teacher's lounge."

While the students were out of earshot and had no idea what Thirteen was doing raising her three fingers, Midoriya and Kageyama quickly understood the sign and realized what had likely happened. As Thirteen filled Aizawa in on the details, Shigeo shuffled a few inches towards Izuku and leaned his head near his ear.

"So you mean All Might's..."

"That's right," whispered Izuku, "He's out of power." The two teenagers drooped their bodies: how unfortunate that the symbol of peace couldn't be in attendance. It just went to show how grievous his injuries were and how much weaker he'd become as a result.

"All Might really is the height of irresponsibility," muttered Aizawa, running his hand through his hair. It was a definite annoyance, but just him and Thirteen would be enough to handle things. "Alright then. Clock's ticking, let's get started."

"Excellent!" Aizawa stepped to the side to allow Thirteen to take the stage. "Before we begin, there're some important things I need to go over, so listen carefully!

"I'm sure most of you are aware that I have a very powerful quirk. It's called Black Hole, which allows me to suck up anything and turn it into dust."

"Yea, yea!" Midoriya had heard of her quirk and it's potency, and Uraraka was also familiar with it, nodding her head up and down in a frantic manner. "You've used your quirk to save people all the time."

"Yes, that's true. But my quirk also has the potential to kill." The two energetic students were snapped out of their happy-go-lucky state of mind. Furthermore, Kageyama was particularly drawn into her statement.

"You all have quirks that have very destructive capabilities. In our society, quirks are certified and carefully regulated, which causes us to often ignore how catastrophic they can be. One wrong misstep, one miscalculation, and your quirk could very easily kill someone, even if you're attempting to perform a noble deed such as rescuing someone."

As the space hero spoke, Kageyama's mind travelled back to the first time he met his master, when he gave him one of his most important pieces of wisdom.

_"Depending on how we choose to use our powers, they can also be deadly weapons. Just the same as knives."_

Now, this same vital information was being informed by a teacher at U.A. High. It pleased Mob to know that there were others in this world who understood the potential deadliness of their powers and the harm that could be done with them.

"You've all gotten the chance to see the potential of your quirks from Aizawa's apprehension test, and All Might's combat training also showed you the deadliness of your quirks when used on others. Carry those lessons over to this class and always remember what could happen if you misuse your powers against others. Today, you're going to use your powers to learn how to save the lives of others! You won't be using your powers to attack enemies or each other, only to help. After all, that's the true duty of a hero: ensuring the safety of others."

_66%_

"That's all I have to say. Thank you all for listening." Thirteen bowed and stretched her arms while the students all applauded her very inspirational speech. Even the emotionless esper had been caught up in the bubbling excitement and cheered Thirteen and her speech. She was the kind of individual whom he could understand the most and preached ideals he believed in the most. This would be an excellent training day to help others!

"Alright, settle down!" The unkempt teacher didn't want to waste time with prolonged cheering. "Now with her speech over, we can-"

A jolt of electricity spread throughout the lights illuminating the arena, dimming the area. The students all gasped in confusion. What was this all about?

In the center of the arena, there was some sort of... distortion. Soon, that distortion took the form of a black hole. Up at the entrance, the male hero's eyes widened as he turned around to see what was happening. Something was definitely wrong.

In an instant, that black hole spurted out, enlarging until it was several feet in diameter. The hairs on Aizawa's neck stood up, and he gasped: there was something emerging from the hole, a hand.

The teacher's instincts kicked in. Whatever this was, whoever was emerging from this hole, they were most definitely not a friend.

"Everyone, stay together and don't move! Thirteen, protect the students!"

Class 1-A didn't understand what their homeroom teacher was talking about. What did they need to protect the students from?

"Whoa, what the hell is that thing?" Kirishima looked down at the center of the arena and noticed the black hole. Coming out from the black hole was the same man who'd watched as the reporters questioned the students to get any details on the number one hero. Accompanying him were several other intimidating individuals with bulky builds, unnerving masks, and dangerous weapons in their hands.

"Wait a minute, I don't get it. Is this the training? I thought you said we'd be doing rescue."

Midoriya didn't understand this turn of events either and took a step forward, but was instantly stopped by Aizawa's forceful voice. "Stand back!"

Midoriya, Kageyama and the other classmates looked at their teacher and felt their heartbeats shoot up when they saw him put on his goggles. "This isn't a training exercise. Those are real villains!"

All of the students gasped, and many of their bodies began to tremble. For the bowl-haired esper, even he couldn't help but feel somewhat frightened by what was happening, although having had to face several enemies before, this was hardly a new experience. He looked down and saw that dozens upon dozens of individuals had come out of the hole. So it turned out Thirteen was wrong: instead of saving others, it appeared that they were the ones who were going to need to be saved today.

_73%_

* * *

**Well, that's a wrap for this chapter! Mob got the chance to express his opinions and give the students his personal opinion on quirks! That'll definitely get him some points later on! Well, now all you have to do is wait to see how Mob's gonna handle the villains and how exactly things are gonna turn out for Class 1-A. Until Chapter 13!**


	13. The Villain Assault

**The U.S.J arc is officially starting! The League of Villains have begun their attack, and now you'll see just how our friend Mob is going to fare against the villains of the My Hero Academia world!**

* * *

"This isn't a training exercise. Those are real villains!"

As the villains all exited the portal, the portal began to morph once again. In the dark swirling mass, a pair of bright yellow eyes emerged. This portal was not simply just a portal: it was a villain who could use his own body to activate portals, and his name was Kurogiri.

Kurogiri and the rest of the villains were all serving other the leader of their little rag-tag group, the man with shaggy light blue hair, Tomura Shigaraki. And today, they were out for blood. All Might's blood. But as Kurogiri observed the people standing at the entrance, he quickly realized that their target was nowhere to be found.

"All I see are Eraserhead and Thirteen," said Kurogiri, his voice deep and menacing. "All Might should be here: according to the schedule we got from U.A. High, he was assigned to this class."

"Is that so?" Shigaraki's voice was ominous, but not in the same way as Kurogiri. Unlike the living portal, this man's voice was high-pitched, erratic, unstable. It was the voice of a psychotic child, an impatient and temperamental soul who wouldn't leave without All Might's head. "I went through the trouble of gathering all these friends who're eager to meet him up-close. They want All Might, the great Symbol of Peace, and he doesn't even have the decency to show up. Well, if I tear open the bodies of a few kids, I'm sure that'd get his attention."

The villains continued their march, eager to fulfill their plan of eradicating the Symbol of Peace once and for all. As the teachers and students watched the villains come for them, Aizawa unfolded his scarf, getting ready to fight these enemies single-handedly. As the unkempt hero prepared for battle, the other students were trying to figure out how something like this could even happen.

Kirishima wasn't getting how they could be so vastly outnumbered. "This doesn't make sense," the red-haired teenager said, "How could so many villains be able to infiltrate U.A.?"

"That's right," said Yaoyorozu, shifting to the front of the crowd of students. "Thirteen, how come the alarms aren't going off?

"Good question," replied Thirteen, "But sadly, I don't have an answer."

"Is the entire campus under attack, or is it focused to just this location," questioned Todoroki, attempting to mull over the possibilities. "Either way, if the alarms aren't triggering, it's more than likely that one of the villains here possesses a quirk that's masking their presence or nullifying the security systems. They must have picked this building to isolate the class, knowing that other heroes wouldn't be able to arrive on the scene. Even though they're idiots for attacking this school, they didn't just do this without thinking it through. Whatever they might be planning, they must have some sort of clear goal in mind. What it could be, I haven't the faintest."

The students only grew more uneasy. What sort of devious schemes did these villains have in store for them?

"Thirteen, alert the main campus and get the students out of here," ordered Aizawa. "Actually, if they've got the power to block our sensors, they've probably blocked off our main communications as well. Kaminari, try and use your communicator to get in touch with the school."

"Right."

"Wait, what're you gonna do?" The green-haired student knew about Aizawa, his quirk, and his fighting style, so he could get a pretty decent idea of how things would go if he tried to face so many villains head-on. "You can't fight all of them by yourself! Your quirk's meant for stealth missions and one-on-one fights, not huge gang fights like this. Even if you can nullify some of their quirks, you can't handle so many villains at once."

Even though Midoriya's assessment was accurate, this did nothing to hinder the messy-haired hero. "You can't be a hero if you only have one trick."

With his mind set and his battle instincts ready, the pro hero jumped into the battle like a knight charging against an army of monsters. The first three villains in Aizawa's vicinity were confident in their numbers and their quirks, but their confidence was quickly shattered once Eraserhead activated his quirk. As they stood in confusion, wondering what the hell was happening to them, Shota's scarf wrapped itself around the three villains, and after waving them in the air, slammed all three of their heads together, knocking them unconscious.

Although slightly put-off by how quickly the hero took care of three of them, the villains continued their assault and charged the hero, knowing who the hero was and his lack of a quirk with serious offensive potential. Unfortunately for them, Aizawa's skill and quirk were much more than they'd bargained for: not only was his capture weapon extremely effective, but his goggles prevented the enemies from telling which quirk the hero was erasing, allowing him to take out many more villains that should have been possible.

"There he goes, taking out our forces like they're nothing but gutter trash," the unhinged leader said, "Those goggles of his prevent them from figuring out who's being powered down, and that's also making it hard for them to work as a team. So annoying: the worst thing about pros is when they live up to their title."

While Aizawa was dealing with the villains, Thirteen was leading the students to the exit, but staying behind to watch were Midoriya and Kageyama. Midoriya was very impressed by how his homeroom teacher was holding his own against so many opponents, while Kageyama couldn't help but worry about his teacher's safety. He didn't want his teacher to be gravely injured while fighting on his own when the esper could easily intervene and lend him his assistance. Was it really okay to simply leave him like this?

"Come on, you two!" Iida noticed his two friends spectating the battle and reminded them of their situation. "This is no time to stand around and watch! We have to evacuate with the rest of the class!"

The two friends understood what their classmate was saying and quickly sprinted to join the rest of their class. Thirteen was hoping that Aizawa would give them enough time, occupy the villains long enough so that the students could go to safety. The eyes of the villains were not off of the students, however. Kurogiri, seeing Class 1-A attempt to flee, would not allow them to escape so easily to call in reinforcements and ruin their entire operation. In the middle of the red walkway, a black portal appeared from the floor, and more swirling black mass gushed from out of the portal,

"There is no escape." As the teenage esper stood before this formless, malicious entity, the first thought that came to mind was an evil spirit. This definitely had the appearance and characteristics of an evil spirit, having encountered so many during his time working as the Spirits and Such Consultation Office. If that was the case, then the simplest thing to do was to exorcise it and save the class. And yet...

Mob's psychic senses allowed him to sense the presence of evil spirits and other espers because of the psychic energy they emitted. This thing wasn't emitting any sort of energy, any powerful presence that stood out to the esper. It was possible his senses could be wrong, but it seemed very unlikely. No, the more probable scenario was that this was just a very unusual person with a mutant quirk that merely gave him the presence of an evil spirit. If that were true, then the psychic would not use his powers to exorcise it. In fact, Mob wasn't even sure if his exorcism powers would work on something like this with similar characteristics of an evil spirit, and he sure as hell wasn't so curious as to attempt it.

"It's such a pleasure to meet this batch of young students. We are the League of Villains, and while it's impolite, we decided to let ourselves in to this haven of justice. This seems like a fitting place for the Symbol of Peace to take his last breath."

Many of the students felt chills run down their spines. So they were here to target All Might? Did they really have the power to take down the number one hero? The mere possibility and the overwhelming presence of this villain caused some of the students to tremble with fear. Midoriya and Kageyama were among the ones who were uneasy at this villain's proclamations, afraid of what sort of power or trickery they had for All Might.

"And yet, I see no sign of All Might. He was supposed to be supervising this class, so it seems that there must have been some sort of change in plan. In the end, however, it doesn't really matter. I still have a role to play." Kurogiri's mist body began expanding until it served as a wall barricading the students inside while Thirteen unsealed one of the holes in her fingers, preparing to activate her quirk to protect the students. But before she could do anything, Kirishima and Bakugo beat her to the punch and lunged for the villain. Activating their quirks, the two teenagers struck Kurogiri, unleashing a large explosion that released large clouds of smoke.

In the thick cloud of smoke, the two students were confident in their attacks, smirking as they stood victorious.

"Did you really think we'd just stand there like a bunch of sitting ducks," exclaimed Kirishima. The grey smoke began to disappear as the black smoke quickly emerged, wiping the smirks off of the teenagers' faces.

"Impressive. You do indeed live up to your school's reputation. But you should be more careful, children." The grey smoke cleared, revealing Kurogiri's body and, for some reason, a piece of armor shrouded within this smoke. "Otherwise, you might get hurt."

"You two, get back!" The space hero, having seen how ineffective basic attacks were against this foe, ordered her students to get out of the way as she prepared her attack. Alas, Kurogiri would not simply stay put and leave himself open to attack.

"I'll scatter you across this facility so you can get acquainted with my comrades!" Several streams of black smoke erupted from the villain's body, running through the crowd of students. Soon, Kurogiri's entire body spread around the group of heroes until they were all completely enveloped by a dome-shaped mass of black smoke. Overtaken by surprise, lack of understanding of his opponent's capabilities, and his inability to act or think quickly, the prodigious esper could do nothing while this villain used his powers to divide the class.

The only one quick-witted enough to react was the class representative, who grabbed the two people closest to him, Uraraka and Sado, escaping the thralling black mist. In this swirling sphere, Shoji shielded two of his classmates, Sato and Ashido, but for the rest of the class caught up in Kurogiri's attack, they were quickly teleported to the different zones of the U.S.J., where each of them would have to fight their own battles.

* * *

Far off in the facility, the bowl-haired esper found himself transported to a place with dense rainfall thirty feet above the ground. He took a quick look around him and noticed he was in an urban setting with multiple buildings which were three or four stories tall, and multiple streets with sidewalks and stop signs you'd expect to see in the city. Mob quickly stopped his descent and gently floated to the ground. What had just happened? Where was the rest of the class?

He went over what had just happened and remembered what the smoke villain had said. From what he'd stated, it sounded like he intended to fan the class out all throughout the facility in order to pick them off one-by-one. The esper cursed himself for allowing the villain to teleport his classmates like that. He should've reacted quicker, used his psychic powers to push everyone out of the way and keep them safe, but he was so unsure of the situation, unprepared for any sort of attack that he'd left himself and the class wide open. Now he had no idea where any of his other classmates were or what kind of dangers they'd encounter.

"Kageyama!" The bowl-haired esper looked to his right, and was relieved to see that Tokoyami was rushing towards him, looking uninjured.

"Tokoyami! Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm pleased to see you're not injured."

"Well well, took long enough." Coming from a darkened alleyway, a man with the appearance of a teal lizard approached the two students. Fitting his reptilian appearance, he had a long tail with sharp claws ready to slice his opponents to shreds, proven by the sadistic smile on his face. "I was beginning to think we'd have to go looking for students ourselves with how long Kurogiri was taking, but thanks, we've got some fresh pickings plop right in front of us."

"Finally, we can have some fun." Emerging from the shadows, a total of ten villains with various different weapons and appearances came to take care of the students.

"Nothing personal, but you kids have got to bite the dust."

These villains been assigned by Shigaraki to monitor this area, wait for Kurogiri's cue to bring some students here. By doing this, they would not only kill the students and permanently tarnish the prestigious reputation of U.A. High and All Might, but with his death, they'd be one step closer to living their lives freely as criminals.

"Stay on guard, Kageyama. We have no idea what we're up against." The avian student widened his stance, raising his fists and sharpening his senses against the multiple villains surrounding them. They had to be ready for whatever attacks these villains had for them, what kind of odd or powerful quirks they could use to rip them apart. This was a fight, after all.

"You guys shouldn't be doing this." The esper's absolutely rigid stance on not using his powers against other people had loosened after his little brother's kidnapping by Claw, and he'd come to realize that there were times in which he needed to use his powers to fight, to defend the people he cared about. Since that first battle with Claw, he'd used his powers against other people plenty of times, such as the two Scars who were on their way to Kageyama's house, or the multiple Claw henchmen who were looting the city. Against those members of Claw, he'd been more willing to use force because he'd believed that his family had been kidnapped by them, and also the anger building up inside of him after learning what Claw did to Seasoning City.

But right now, Kageyama wasn't in that mindset, that aggressive mentality. Maybe it had to do with Thirteen's speech and reminder of the danger of their quirks, but at the moment, the esper wanted to try to talk to these villains in a peaceful manner before determining if using his powers was the necessary course of action.

_77%_

"You shouldn't be using your powers to threaten others like this. It isn't right."

"Huh?" All of the villains stared at the bowl-haired student like he was brain-dead. What the hell was this kid trying to pull? Similarly, Tokoyami's mouth gaped open, his fists slightly lowering as he was caught off-guard by his classmate's statement. The first thing that should've been on Kageyama's mind was keeping his guard up, preparing for attacks, not trying to have a conversation with his enemies. Furthermore, what kind of hero tried to lecture villains?

"The hell are you doing, kid?" one of the villains said. "You trying to tell us what to do?"

"I think I get what's going on here!" The villain with a reptilian appearance formed a hypothesis regarding the bowl-haired student's attempt to try and make a peaceful talk. "You're scared shitless, and you're trying to talk your way out of this, make us feel pity for you so maybe we'll spare your lives! Well that ain't happening!"

Tokoyami shook his head. No, if he wanted, he could probably rip all of their heads off with his bare hands. While it certainly seemed possible that Kageyama was frightened, it was still very unlikely in the eyes of the avian teenager.

"Yea, you've got a good point!" another villain continued, "I mean look at him! This kid doesn't look like he could even handle a gallon of piss!" Like basically everyone else, the villains were very unimpressed with the teenager's very plain and meek appearance.

"Once we kill you guys and Shigaraki gets rid of All Might, we'll be one step closer to doing what we want!" One of the villains with a bulky build decided to take the first initiative and charged the bowl-haired teenager. His quirk was a very basic and unimpressive strength-enhancing ability, although it was still enough to seriously damage or even kill a normal person, enough so that a single punch could pierce through the skin and scramble his opponent's organs.

Sadly for the villains, they were about to see just how wrong they were, the frightening power that laid hidden behind his unimpressive appearance. The muscular man suddenly found himself frozen midair, surrounded by a light blue aura. He noticed that the bowl-haired teenager was also surrounded by this aura, and quickly put two-and-two together.

"Doing what you want?" The villain felt his body run cold when he saw the esper's face darken, his dull eyes now black with anger. This sounded very familiar for the teenage esper...

_"The boss is the only one gunning for ruling the world. As long as I'm having fun, I don't really care."_

One of Claw's most powerful espers, with an extremely powerful aura and the ability to teleport, had openly expressed to everyone his utter disinterest for his boss's goals, ruining the lives of countless civilians, destroying their homes, and inflicting psychological damage on them solely for the sake of having a good time. These villains seemed to have the same mentality, and for the esper, it was utterly disgusting.

"So you're willing to kill an entire class of students just so you can have the freedom to do whatever you want?"

_82%_

Three of the other villains attempted to save their teammate and strike the esper while he was distracted. But before any of them could show off their quirks, both of them were quickly dispatched by the large shadow that emerged from Tokoyami's stomach. His quirk was Dark Shadow, allowing him to summon a large, bird-like monster of dark matter that Tokoyami used to incapacitate his enemies with his creature's power. With Dark Shadow, the avian student sent two of his opponents flying several meters through the air and into the walls of buildings.

As for the third opponent, Kageyama used his telekinesis to throw the immobilized foe at the approaching foe, sending both of them flying through the air at rather high speeds and knocking them out for the count.

The remaining villains were immediately stricken with a bout of fear. They'd been too cocky, underestimating the power of their quirks and assuming that their strength of numbers would be sufficient enough to take care of them. With four of them taken out in an instant, the villains suddenly felt their chances at victory were remarkably lessened.

"Dark Shadow! Attack!" Tokoyami ordered his shadowy beast to attack, and with its monstrously sized claws, scooped all of the remaining villains, who were too stricken with terror to properly dodge or defend from the quirk's remarkable power, creating a very light boom from the impact. Dark Shadow lifted the bodies of villains high into the air, then slammed the group into the ground, creating a small crater in the ground.

The dark creature roared in triumph, but Tokoyami gently patted the creature on the head. "Calm yourself, Dark Shadow," muttered Tokoyami, "The battle's over."

Shigeo was interested by the way his fellow student was treating the shadowy being, as if it were his pet. He'd only seen him use his quirk during the Quirk Apprehension Test and the battle trial in a very limited manner. Something else that the esper noticed was that this shadowy creature was much larger than during the Quirk Apprehension Test. But why was that?

"My quirk's power is affected by light," Tokoyami explained, "The darker the area, the stronger Dark Shadow becomes, although this also makes him more difficult to control. Thanks to the heavy rain and clouds, the lack of light gave Dark Shadow enough power to take care of these villains without trouble."

Kageyama moved onto the more pressing matter at hand, now that these villains had been taken care of. "Do you think the rest of our classmates will be ok?"

"I don't think that they'll have too much trouble. These villains were rather weak, so if there're at least two or three classmates working together, I'm sure they'll be able to managed." While Tokoyami did analysis of what kind of troubles their classmates would be facing spread out across the facility, he quickly came to see the one who was in the most danger. "However, I'm not sure if I can say the same thing for Mr. Aizawa."

"What do you mean?"

"He's facing several dozen villains by himself, and as Midoriya noted, he isn't suited for drawn-out battles or multiple opponents. Eventually, he's going to run out of energy, and the amount of time he can keep his quirk active will decrease. If he doesn't receive some assistance soon, he'll be in some serious trouble."

The teenage esper heard this news and widened his eyes in panic. If that was true, he had to go and lend him support!

"Tokoyami, you stay here and wait until this whole thing is over. I'm gonna go help Mr. Aizawa."

"What?" The reserved teenager was puzzled and worried at his classmate's determination to go into action. "Kageyama, you can't. Mr. Aizawa wouldn't want one of his students to rush into the field of battle and risk his life."

"I'll be fine. Make sure that the villains are restrained so they don't try to attack you again." The esper's body lit up with his light blue aura, and he gave one last small smile to his classmate.

"Be safe."

With his final words to Tokoyami, he soared up into the sky, leaving his classmate behind to do all of the menial work. While he watched his classmate fly away, there were multiple thoughts running through his head, most of which revolved around Kageyama's safety. Would the esper really be ok by himself? He did have phenomenal strength and speed combined with his telekinesis, so it wasn't like he couldn't handle himself. Contrary to that, he couldn't think of a single villain here who could pose a threat to him. Or so he believed...

His mind went back to what the smoke villain had said before. They'd come to U.A. High to kill All Might. The very notion of killing the Symbol of Peace was both shocking and seemingly impossible, given the hero's unbelievable powers. Even so, it would be foolish of them to attack so forwardly like this if they didn't have some sort of weapon, a villain who could do the deed. If the villains really did have such a weapon, then would Kageyama really be able to handle that himself? Would Mr. Aizawa be able to handle that? The avian teenager simply didn't have any answers to these questions.

* * *

While Shigeo had fought alongside Tokoyami and defeated the villains, Midoriya had also gained a victory against his foes. He'd been teleported to the Shipwreck zone along with Tsu and Mineta, and using all of their quirks, managed to find a way to immobilize their opponents. Now, the fanboy was cautiously walking toward the main fight, determined to help their teacher and survey the situation first-hand. The three students peeked their heads over the rock to see how their teacher was faring. They were ecstatic to see the many unconscious bodies all across the battlefield and only a few villains who were still standing, all while their teacher continuing to do his best. Jumping into the air, he used his scarf to grab the last two villains up, and using his downward momentum, slammed both of them into the ground. For a second, it seemed as though Eraserhead had managed to gain the upper hand, that the villains couldn't dish out anything more to take care of the hero. Sadly, Shigaraki hadn't just been idly watching his forces get mowed down without getting some intel. After seeing Eraserhead use his quirk so many times, he'd finally figured out his glaring vulnerability, and with all of his forces finished, it was time to go into action.

The leader of the villains sprinted into action, going over the periods of time Eraserhead maintained his quirk before forcing to rest. "First it was 23 seconds, then 24 seconds, then 17."

"The final boss, huh?" The eraser hero sent his capture weapon towards Shigaraki, but the villain dodged the scarf. Aizawa rushed towards his opponent, who was reaching his hand out in an attempt to grab the hero's face. Eraserhead ducked, elbowing the villain hard in the stomach. For a second, the three students smiled in relief, believing their homeroom teacher had actually been victorious. But Tsu's smile disappeared, for she was the first to notice there was something wrong. The psychotic enemy held his elbow with his hand, having been able to block the hero's blow.

"I couldn't tell very easily with all your moving around, but I finally figured out your tell: your hair. When it drops, it means you've stopped using your quirk." The eraser hero's exhausted eyes widened with shock and pain in his elbow. Now that Shigaraki had figured out his quirk's giveaway, he could finally activate his own quirk: Decay. This was a very dangerous quirk that destroyed everything Shigaraki touched. Aizawa groaned in pain, his dark green shirt turning gray, breaking down into dust and the skin on the hero's elbow, revealing the muscle tendons protected by the skin. "You're having to blink more often. Don't push yourself too hard: you might fall apart. Wouldn't that be a shame?"

Aizawa wasn't just going to let Shigaraki take his arm: the hero quickly reactivated his quirk, stopping the decay. He then punched the villain and jumped back. Shigaraki was only mildly stunned by his punch and got back up rather quickly. "Still standing after all of this? Man, you're even cooler than I gave you credit for. But there's something you should know."

The unkempt hero felt a chill run down his spine. He turned his head, and standing right behind him was the large black creature with a bird-like head. How did it manage to get behind him without the hero noticing?

"I'm not the final boss. He is."

With a simple slash of his hand, the monstrous creature broke Aizawa's signature goggles and drew blood from his head. Unable to defend himself from the enemy's superior speed and strength, he screamed out in pain when the monster pinned him down and broke his arm with overwhelming ease, blood dripping down his right arm. Shigaraki watched the hero squeal and try to break free with sadistic pleasure, while the other students could only watch this spectacle with utter horror.

"You can erase people's quirks, an irritating power but ultimately not impressive. In the face of real power like this, you're nothing but a helpless little man with a useless fashion accessory."

Aizawa wasn't going to let himself be broken like a toy doll: he could still nullify his enemy's quirk! Maybe then he could come up with some kind of plan, trap him with his capture weapon. The hero looked up to the monster, and his eyes glowed bright red. This did nothing to deter the enemy, who proceeded to slam his hand down onto Aizawa's left arm, breaking the bones and eliciting another painful scream from the hero. What the hell was going on? He was breaking his bones like they were twigs, even after he had erased his quirk. That could only mean that he had phenomenal strength even without his powers. What was left for the eraser hero to do? Was this really going to be the place he died?

The black creature reached his hand out, attempting to grab the hero's head, but for some reason, his fingers couldn't latch themselves onto Aizawa's skull. The leader of the villains didn't understand why his pet was stopping.

"What're you waiting for, Nomu? Turn his brain into mush!" However, he looked closer and realized that there was some sort of blue aura wrapped around the Nomu. What the hell was that?

From the sidelines, when the three students squinted and noticed the faint blue aura, they instantly knew who it was.

"That's-" The three students gazed up into the sky, and saw the bowl-haired esper floating with a light blue aura and his hand outstretched. The esper had decided to be on the safe side and see how the other students were doing against the villains, and like Tokoyami had said, they were all managing to hold their own. None of them looked as though they were in any desperate danger. The only ones who he couldn't find were Bakugo and Kirishima, but assuming they were together, Mob didn't think he needed to worry. Finally, he came across his homeroom teacher, and when he saw what that black monster had done to his teacher, he felt he was about to vomit from thirty meters high. He'd broken both of Mr. Aizawa's arms!

_87%_

"What the-" Shigaraki looked up, and only caught a glimpse of the student's form before he disappeared. The villain looked back at the Nomu, and sure enough, the student had appeared behind him and punched him forward. The force of the esper's punch was notable, kicking up a few gusts of wind and managing to send the monster several meters forward.

"It's Kageyama!" said Tsu, "He saved Aizawa, but what's he gonna do now?"

"He's not crazy enough to fight those bad guys by himself, right?" Mineta said.

"I don't know..." Truthfully, the green-eyed fanboy was unsure of how his friend would proceed. He was certainly no stranger to fighting enemies, since according to him, he'd already taken on a terrorist organization comprised of powerful psychics. At the same time, Midoriya couldn't help but feel worried about what Kageyama was getting into. This black monster was clearly above the likes of every other villain Aizawa had taken care of thus far, and even with the esper's phenomenal abilities, Midoriya simply couldn't guarantee his friend's victory.

"I'm impressed, kid," said Shigaraki, "You actually had enough strength to knock Nomu back."

"Mr. Aizawa! Your arms, they're..." The esper helped his teacher up to his feet, and now getting to see the extent of his injuries up-close, only felt more horrified and disgusted. His arms looked as though they were simply hanging threads of meat now, the damage too catastrophic to even lift them up. Also, he noticed that the skin on his elbow had somehow disappeared, leaving his muscles exposed.

"What happened to your elbow?"

"The man with the hands on his face, he has a quirk that lets him destroy anything he touches. He got my elbow, while that monster got my arms. Still, I can manage." Against this insurmountable pain that threatened to make him lose consciousness, Aizawa was using all the willpower to fight against the pain, the adrenaline also serving to mitigate it enough to think properly.

"Now leave. I'll buy you enough time to get out of here."

"No." The esper's hair stood up as he activated his powers, and he took a few steps towards the two remaining villains. "I'll handle them. You're the one who has to get out of here."

"Hey! Is this your kid, Eraserhead?" Shigaraki mocked, noting the fact that both of their hair appeared to rise when using their powers, "I didn't think you were a family man!"

"Unacceptable!" The eraser hero would not accept this proposal whatsoever. He'd felt the strength of this monster, the "Nomu" as the boss called it. It was unbelievable: it entered the realm of All Might. Even Kageyama couldn't fight against something that powerful. Something like that would need either All Might or an army of Pro Heroes.

"Your injuries are too severe, Mr. Aizawa. You've lost both of your arms, and the veins in your eyes are bulging. You've overused your quirk. Letting you fight by yourself would be suicidal for you. I'll be able to manage by myself."

"I said no!" For Aizawa, this was not something that could be negotiated, and he activated his erasure quirk to force the esper into submission. As his hair rose, he expected to see Kageyama's hair fall. But what happened was just the contrary: not a single hair fell out of place.

The eraser hero felt himself lose his breath. What the hell? He was positive he was using his quirk on Kageyama! He should've become completely powerless! But nothing was happening! The only type of quirk his erasing power didn't work with was mutant-type quirks, but Kageyama clearly didn't have a mutant quirk. So what could explain this?

For all of the other spectators watching Kageyama ready himself to fight, they saw Aizawa activate his quirk, but due to the esper's position and the position of the enemies being right in front of Kageyama, all of them assumed that the pro hero was attempting to erase the quirk of Shigaraki or the Nomu, so none of them understood that there was anything wrong in this scenario.

"So you're the leader of all of these villains, then?" Kageyama said, ignoring his teacher's demand to flee.

"Bingo! You've got it! And this guy right here, you can call him Nomu. He's a biological weapon designed to take down the Symbol of Peace. You think you can handle this thing by yourself?" The three students were out of earshot and could not hear the dialogue exchanged between Tomura and Shigeo.

"So you really came here to kill All Might." The psychic could not bear the thought of anything happening to the man who'd been his pillar of support for ten months and helped him start a new life in this foreign world. Furthermore, this man was the one behind this attack, the one who ordered his soldiers to kill all of his classmates. "And you don't care at all about the lives of students you've ordered to kill?"

The psychotic villain didn't even bat an eye at the student's display of shock of disgust. "My friends and I came here to put the Symbol of Peace down for good and ruin this pathetic society of heroes, and the best way to do that, to show All Might how pitiful and pathetic he really is, is for him to see the bodies of the dead students neither he nor this useless school could protect. How about we start with you?"

_93%_

"There's your next target, Nomu. Rip him to shreds!"

The herculean beast rushed towards the powerful esper, who gasped at the Nomu's speed, barely having enough time to put up a barrier. The impact was incredible, creating huge gusts of wind which reached the three students and managed to create several waves in the water a few inches in height. Aizawa was tossed across the ground, unable to stop himself due to his lack of arms. Eventually, the Nomu's fist tore through the psychic barrier, hitting the esper in the chest. The blow caused Mob to wince in pain, sending him back several meters.

Shigaraki cackled as he watched his pet tear through the enemy's defenses. "I can't wait to see All Might's face when he sees his student's severed head."

_95%_

Mob couldn't believe how utterly despicable the words coming out of this man's mouth were. What was most revolting to Mob about this man's behavior was how he took pleasure in the pain of others. How could anyone actually enjoy inflicting physical or psychological damage onto others like this, to this degree?

The bowl-haired student attempted to retaliate with a strong yet overly basic right kick, but the Nomu managed to intercept the attack and grabbed his foot. The monster squeezed the psychic's foot as hard as he could, and the esper yelled out in pain. The Nomu's strength was indeed phenomenal, that was being made abundantly clear after just two attacks. Mob clamped his fists together and slammed them against the monster's hand as hard as possible, loosening the grip enough for him to break free. He quickly jumped back, but once he got on level ground, he winced in pain. He looked down and saw that his shoe had been crushed into pieces, as well as the bottom sleeve of his pants. Not only that, but his foot was lightly bleeding, a small purple discoloration beginning to form. Mob couldn't let himself be grabbed like that again.

"While Nomu's working his magic with the bowl-cut, why don't I take my time with those three over there!" Shigaraki had noticed the three students hiding in the water and decided to have some fun with them. Aizawa, who'd barely had any time to react to the exchange between Kageyama and the Nomu, saw the enemy go on the move and felt every muscle, even the torn ones, tense up: it was Midoriya, Asui, and Mineta. But what the hell were they doing waiting in the water? They should've evacuated the second they saw what the Nomu did to Aizawa and realized that this was an enemy they couldn't fight!

The teacher attempted to intercept the psychopathic criminal, his quirk activated and his scarf unfolded. Mob took a glance at what those two were doing, and felt his blood run cold when he saw his classmates being targeted and the villain's hand stretched out towards Tsu.

"Tsu! Guys!"

_98%_

Only a few feet before Shigaraki reached the students, Aizawa jumped up and kicked the villain in the chest. This time, however, Shigaraki was able to easily evade the enemy's attack and counter with a hard uppercut to the chin. "Your movements have gotten slower, Eraserhead! Looks like you've hit your limit!"

Staggered by the blow and with his arms out of commission, the villain decided to end the hero's feeble attempt at saving his students and get rid of his last interruption by disintegrating Aizawa's head. Happening simultaneously, the Nomu decided to go on the attack again and readied his fist to slam into the esper's face.

"Time to put you into permanent retirement, Eraserhead!"

But the villain's hand never made contact with the hero's face: out of nowhere, he felt some sort of immense pressure keeping him restrained. Aizawa and the other students could feel the same kind of pressure prickling their skin. What was causing this?

"What... the hell is..." Shigaraki just barely managed to avert his gaze towards the person he assumed was doing this, and sure enough, he could see the esper's aura flaring to life, his blue aura now a bright complex rainbow color. He also took note of the Nomu's outstretched fist doing nothing.

"You're not gonna lay a finger on my teacher or my classmates!"

_100% Rage _

Mob's building fury against the merciless villains and the threats his classmates were under had finally reached its peak. He could clearly see that no words would get through to the main villain, and this Nomu was basically just a pet, an attack dog that wouldn't stop until it had killed its prey. Not if Shigeo could help it: with the rage and energy fueling his psychic powers, he would defeat this monster and keep everyone safe.

The esper stretched out both of his hands, sending a telekinetic blast which simultaneously sent both Shigaraki and the Nomu back several dozen meters. As his rage was being unleashed, multiple chunks of cement were rising up off the ground, many the size of boulders.

"You four, get out of here now!" The esper made a quick sprint towards the four. "I'm gonna fight the Nomu. You evacuate with the rest of the class and get somewhere safe." Mob looked at the leader of these villains, who was still getting up from the telekinetic blast, and his aura grew larger while the look in his eyes only became more furious.

"No way will I watch him turn any of you to dust!"

"Kageyama..." All four of them were unnerved by this sudden change of attitude, this explosion of anger. The bowl-haired teenager had always presented himself as a neutral, soft-spoken and respectful individual who was averse to the concept of using his powers against others so needlessly. Standing before them was a rage-driven warrior, prepared to do whatever it took to defeat his opponent. Something else that was off-putting for them was Kageyama's eyes: the dull, brown pupils were now blood-red, the pupils swirling with anger and fortitude.

The Nomu was quick to recover, and sprinted for the esper to attack with another right jab. This time, the esper met him head-on and sprinted forward with the same attack in mind. The force of the collision was phenomenal: after a quick initial shockwave, a flurry of high-speed winds came forth, knocking everyone off balance and creating waves a few feet in height.

The bowl-haired teenager was startled by the power this creature's punches packed. More startling for the esper, however, was how much power his own punches could pack. Filled with rage, he could feel the psychic energy flowing through his muscles, amplifying them many times over and actually allowing him to stand up to this monster's phenomenal power. If he'd used this same attack against the Nomu a year ago, it would have definitely broken his arm, maybe completely torn it off. He was being reminded of the unintentional bonus the rigorous training with All Might and Midoriya had given him.

After the two exchanged the punch, the Nomu followed up with a left hook, but Mob erected a barrier to defend himself. The same air pressure was released, but this time, the esper's shield managed to hold.

"Whoa! Kageyama's awesome!" shouted Mineta.

"What the..." As Shigaraki stood back up and witnessed the way the student was able to trade a punch evenly with the Nomu, he was absolutely stunned. "How is that kid able to fight the Nomu? He's as strong as All Might! And how was his barrier able to stop Nomu's attack when it was shattered with the same attack just seconds before?"

"Tomura Shigaraki!" Teleporting to his superior's location, Kurogiri returned to give news of what had just happened, for not all of it was good. "The rescue hero is out of commission, although there were students whom I was unable to disperse, and one of them escaped the facility." While the other students had been fighting villains across the campus, the students who'd remained at the front gate were forced to deal with Kurogiri. Thirteen had attempted to hold him off by herself, but the smoke opponent was able to best her. Unfortunately for him, the remaining students had managed to distract Kurogiri long enough for the fastest student, Iida, to sprint out the door and go inform the school of the situation.

The psychotic villain's muscles quivered with indignation. To hear such troublesome news and deep failures from Kurogiri was unacceptable. Shigaraki began to rapidly scratch the sides of his neck, a tick of his which showed whenever he became violently angry, and his entire body began to tremble with fury.

"Kurogiri, you idiot. If you weren't our warp gate, I'd tear you down to the last atom!" After a few seconds, he managed to simmer his fiery temper and dropped his hands down. "There's no way we'll win if dozens of pros come in to stop us. And to make things worse, this kid can fight the Nomu."

While the villains were conversing and the two powerful fighters were duking it out, the spectators were scrambling, startled by the esper's remarkable physical prowess and the fact that Kageyama's barrier was able to hold up.

"The three of you, go evacuate!" ordered Aizawa.

"What about you, Mr. Aizawa?" asked Tsu.

The hero felt a tightness in the chest. He went over what he could do at this point: with his arms completely shattered and the teacher almost all of his energy expended, he'd instantly be killed if he tried to fight against the leader again. More importantly, if he stayed, he'd only make himself a target for the remaining villains and force Kageyama to step in and save him, and he already had his hands full with the Nomu. Now that he saw the teenager was able to match the Nomu's blows and defend himself with his barriers, he was confident that the esper could hold out long enough for All Might and the rest of the U.A. faculty to arrive. It made him sick to his stomach, but it appeared that the hero would be forced to leave this in Kageyama's hands.

"I hate to do this, but we have to leave Kageyama." The hero gave a heavy sigh, hating how the words sounded out in the open. "There's nothing neither I or any of you can do to help him."

Tsu pinched the skin at her throat, averse to the idea of leaving her classmate to fend for himself. "Are you sure?"

"We don't have a choice."

"You guys shouldn't worry anyway. You saw him take that bird guy's attack! He's totally got this!" The short student was already sold with what he'd seen from the esper. In his eyes, he could handle this by himself without any problem. Midoriya also couldn't help but feel partly ensured by the esper's power: he'd fought villains before, and he had plenty of abilities at his disposal. Hopefully that would be enough to at least delay that monster until the rest of the heroes arrived.

With one last look of reluctance, the four of them sprinted to the entrance, leaving the esper alone to fight this biological weapon.

Mob took a small glance at the four of them, and felt a huge weight lift off his shoulders. He didn't have to worry about them getting caught in the crossfire of this battle or them being targeted by the other villains.

Focusing his attention back on the battle, the teenager lifted the Nomu into the air, and with a downward flick of his wrist, he slammed the creature into the ground. He repeated the motion a few times, and then flicked his wrist to the right, sending it crashing through multiple trees. However, the Nomu was practically unaffected by the attacks, and it rushed the esper. Kageyama put up another barrier to protect himself, then punched him in the stomach. He continued with a strong right uppercut, but the Nomu was basically unfazed.

"My punches aren't working at all."

"That's because Nomu has shock absorption, kid. Not even All Might's blows can take this big guy down! So what're you gonna try next?"

"Should we intervene in this battle?" said Kurogiri.

"No, no. Nomu's got this covered. Let's just enjoy the show."

Kageyama lifted his hand and sent multiple pieces of concrete flying at the monster. The Nomu attempted to push back against the multiple pieces of concrete, but their size and numbers were eventually starting to take their effect and caused him to stagger back. But this was only the beginning: the Nomu was about to go for a ride.

The esper lifted himself and the Nomu high into the air, soaring up until they both crashed through the roof of the U.S.J. They continued going higher and higher, a couple of hundred feet above the top of the building, until the esper shouted and with all of his might, kicked the Nomu in the stomach. It became clear to the esper that his attacks needed to have a bit more power behind them. Propelling himself downward and increasing the speed of descent with his telekinesis, the two opponents returned to the ground in a fraction of the time it took them to get back up, and crashed into the ground. Torrential winds kicked up: the shockwaves from the impact reverberated throughout the entire facility, and both Tomura and Kurogiri were knocked off of their feet.

As the smoke cleared, the villains could see the esper's foot rammed into the monster's chest, the Nomu stunned by the blow. Alas, thanks to the Nomu's immense strength and durability, it managed to recover from the attack and attempted to grab the esper, but Mob wasn't finished yet. The esper tackled the artificially engineered monster, dragging him through the cement floor and attempting to deal as much damage as he could, until they were once again sent out of the U.S.J and into the wooded area outside.

"Come on, Kurogiri, let's follow them." Kurogiri warped himself and Tomura to the outside where the two opponents were fighting, but once they arrived at the scene of the battle, they saw that the roots of the trees were beginning to move for some reason.

"What's that brat doing?"

The thick roots of the trees were beginning to combine, taking shape into larger roots that began to wrap around the Nomu's legs, while the thick branches wrapped around the monster's wrists.

"He can manipulate plants? How the hell can he do that?" Shigaraki couldn't wrap his head around how this kid could do what he do. He had a multitude of abilities: flight, barrier creation, enhanced strength and speed, and now plant control? Just how in the hell did his quirk work?

The Nomu attempted to break free, but the roots of dozens upon dozens of trees were combining to restrain the bioengineered monstrosity. The esper took the moment where Nomu was restrained and assaulted him with a barrage of unorganized and basic punches to the creature's front body.

"Kurogiri!"

Before the esper could continue its assault on the Nomu, it became shrouded with a black mist, starting from the feet going all the way up to the head. Kageyama gasped and turned to the two villains: so the smoke enemy was using his powers to assist the Nomu. That would make things a bit more tricky.

What was even more tricky was that Kurogiri had warped the Nomu right behind Kageyama: with his back in his sights, the monster attempted to punch the esper while he was vulnerable, yet Mob managed to erect another barrier in time and defend himself.

Watching the way the esper was getting the upper hand against the Nomu, Shigaraki's fury began to boil, scratching his neck so hard that the scratch marks began to bleed. "This kid... he's ruining everything, Kurogiri. The Nomu can't even land a proper punch on him thanks to the brat's telekinesis, as if his strength and speed weren't already bad enough!"

"Yes, this child is clearly a prodigy," remarked Kurogiri.

While Mob was maintaining his barrier, his thoughts were going towards the smoke villain. His powers were proving to be rather irritating, and if he continued to intervene in the battle like this, then Mob wouldn't be able to land a finishing blow on the Nomu. He had to make sure that he didn't get a chance to use his powers, make it more difficult to use his powers by making sure the Nomu was constantly in motion.

Mob lifted the Nomu into the air once again, but this time, he started to spin the monster. Shigaraki and Kurogiri began to grow uneasy. "What is he doing now?"

The Nomu was being spun through the air like a wheel, quickly gaining speed as the esper made the circling motion. The speed at which the Nomu was being spun was growing so great that air current was being formed, pushing the villains back.

"I can't open a portal to get him out!" said Kurogiri, "He's going too fast!"

This was the esper's intention, to keep this fight solely between him and the Nomu. Once the esper felt he'd gained enough speed and its senses had been knocked off-balance enough, he slammed the Nomu into the ground. Like before, the force was unbelievable, managing to send both villains flying, destroying a large chunk of the trees nearby, and creating yet another shockwave which shook the U.S.J. and even sent some mild tremors throughout the campus. With this, Kageyama was hoping it would be enough to finish the Nomu. Once the smoke cleared and the esper could get a good view of the Nomu, he noticed it was struggling to get up. Even so, the esper was growing annoyed at the fact that none of his attacks weren't doing any significant damage. Was his shock absorption really that potent? The esper didn't realize that there was another reason, something else that was allowing the Nomu to keep fighting, and without it, Mob would've likely already won the fight.

While the esper was fighting against the Nomu, Midoriya was fleeing alongside Aizawa and his other two classmates, but as they were fleeing, Aizawa was beginning to slow down.

"Mr. Aizawa?" Midoriya said, looking at his teacher's weakening form with great concern.

"Don't worry, it's just a little... little..." The eraser hero's adrenaline had faded, allowing the overwhelming pain he was in to take effect. Unable to fight this building pain any longer and having already reached his limit, the homeroom teacher closed his eyes and fell unconscious. Asui and Mineta managed to catch their teacher, where the frog-like teenager checked his pulse.

"He's alive, just unconscious."

"We should keep moving," Mineta said.

Suddenly, the three students felt the ground shaking. They heard a large boom from the battlefield, and all began to fear what it signified.

"Is Kageyama doing alright?" asked Tsu, growing concerned for her classmate and unsure of what these large tremors really meant.

Izuku's thoughts were currently going towards his friend fighting for his life. That black, herculean creature was clearly above any of the other villains that had come. Then he remembered what Tsu said before: if the villains had come here, they must have had some way to kill All Might. That thing must've been the secret weapon they'd been preparing, which likely meant that it had strength comparable to All Might, and Kageyama was fighting that thing all by himself! Even he couldn't fend off against such an opponent without some assistance. He had to go back and help him!

"You guys take Mr. Aizawa to the entrance. I'm gonna go back to help Kageyama!"

Without waiting for any input or warnings from his classmates, the green-haired fanboy sprinted off back into the battlefield to go give his friend vital assistance, not realizing that the esper actually was faring very well against the Nomu and had it and the other villains on the ropes.

Back on the battlefield, the powerful esper was unsure of what to do to finally finish this opponent. According to the blue-haired villain, this Nomu had shock absorption, meaning that any physical blows he dealt would be much less effective. Not only that, but sending it crashing through rocks or other rubble wasn't doing enough damage. He had to find some sort of method to incapacitate the Nomu.

As the Nomu rushed toward the esper, the monster quickly found that it had lost the feeling in its arms and legs. This was because, as it happened, all four limbs had been torn off, leaving only the upper body and head intact. Shigeo found this to be the only way to deal with this artificial creation, since removing all of its limbs would leave it unable to fight.

"There, it's finished."

"Wow, pretty lethal display of your powers there, kid." Mob looked back at the blue-haired villain and his associate, but soon found something to be wrong when he saw that Shigaraki wasn't panicking. "If Nomu were any other opponent, your battle would be over. Sadly, Nomu's not an ordinary opponent."

"What does that..." The esper shuffled back some steps when he saw red muscle begin to grow out from the stubs of his limbs. The Nomu was regrowing all of his limbs, starting with the muscle and next was the skin, quickly covering the bulging muscles until all four of his limbs were restored to perfect working order. Now the esper understood: the Nomu was regenerating all of the damage that was being taken from his attacks. That made this a bit more challenging: still, Kageyama had more than enough energy, and if he kept his distance, made sure to keep on dealing significant damage, maybe he could eventually find some sort of weakness, something that he could exploit.

Kageyama sent the monster flying back into the U.S.J. with a strong telekinetic blast. The psychic quickly followed it back inside, and the other two villains were rushing in behind him.

Midoriya, who'd just returned to the scene of battle, watched the Nomu being sent flying and crashing into a large boulder. He saw his friend, looking basically uninjured and more than ready to continue the fight. The green-haired fanboy was astonished: were those tremors he felt originating from Kageyama? Did he really have that kind of physical power?

"Kageyama!"

At the entrance, the doors burst open, creating a large cloud of dust. Mob, Izuku, and the villains all turned their heads to see what the commotion was about. The student's who'd remained at the entrance watched with shock and building relief when they was the savior had come at last. Wearing his yellow suit and carrying his yellow blazer in his right hand, the Symbol of Peace walked to the edge of the staircase, his usual trademark smile replaced by an angry scowl, for All Might was pissed and ready for a fight.

"Looks like the game's gonna heat up!"

* * *

**There! Mob manages to hold his own against the Nomu, but because of his complete lack of fighting experience, battle strategy, and quick thinking, he's unable to gain a decisive victory against the Nomu!**

**I'm getting a lot of backlash over the way that Mob wasn't able to hold his own against the Nomu, saying that with Mob's capabilities, he should've been able to defeat the Nomu instantly since he could destroy an entire city. In response, I'd like to say that some people are also nerfing the Nomu. First, consider that All Might's capable of laying waste to entire city blocks with his punches even while weakened, and a single punch was strong enough to change the weather, meaning that All Might is also capable of destroying cities if he wants to as well. Nomu has physical power that's on par with that, so I think you're all also underestimating how powerful the Nomu is. Also, like I said, I feel that Mob never showed any similar feats in terms of pure physical strength during any of his fights. The most that was seen was with Koyama, when his physical attack destroyed a large portion of a building, but even that wasn't really impressive in comparison to what All Might or the Nomu have done. With his other fights, he also had more access to the available surroundings: for instance, during his fight with the Suzuki, he could use all of the buildings to his advantage since there was no one around, but here, there wasn't as much he could use. And do you really think Mob's willing to just tear his enemies apart like Tatsumaki? He may be on her level according to ONE when serious, but would Mob really be willing to turn the Nomu into a giant ball of flesh, slowly twist his body in pain? He did that with Suzuki only when absolutely necessary, and he doesn't really use his powers in other ways. He only uses basic powers of telekinesis and barrier creation, so dealing with a creature who can regenerate and absorb blows is something new for him, even if he has raw power that outmatches the Nomu. **

**Also, this fight was never intended to let Mob shine, not really. That time will come later on in the story, but not right now. **

**Also, just to confirm this to everyone, there are only 20 students in Class 1-A: Shigeo replaced Koji Koda. Yea, I don't really care about him and he barely speaks at all, so his presence wasn't really needed. Anyway, now you'll see how things turn out with All Might's arrival and what he'll do about the Nomu! Until Chapter 14 of 100 Percent Hero!**


	14. A Little Help

The Symbol of Peace had made his dramatic entrance to save the students from the threat of these villains. All of the students at the entrance felt like their guardian angel had just arrived: Ashido and Uraraka had tears in their eyes, while the other students, Sato, Shoji, and Sero all had wide smiles on their faces.

"There was a nagging feeling that something was wrong when Aizawa and Thirteen didn't answer my calls, so I ran over to see what was going on. I came across young Iida, who informed me of the villains you were fending off." As the number one hero made his way to the end of the staircase, his jaw clenched up. Toshinori couldn't believe that all of this had happened while he'd been in the teachers lounge resting! To imagine what kind of fear all of these children were feeling, being forced to fight these villains by themselves, and to see his colleagues so grievously injured, it sickened him. At this point, the most he could do was reassure them all he would be alright, and that he would be there for them. That was his duty as the Symbol of Peace.

"Have no fear students," All Might assured, removing his tie and throwing his jacket to the ground, "Because I am here!"

From the battlefield, Shigaraki took note of the number one hero's arrival at last, after all this waiting and this delay with the bowl-haired brat. "So the heroic piece of trash shows up at the door at last."

As it so happened, some of the villains who had been taken out by Aizawa were beginning to come back to their senses and saw that the Symbol of Peace, their target, had come to conduct his justice. Some of the villains were stricken with fear, an expected reaction when coming face-to-face with the most powerful hero on the planet and knowing he's your enemy.

"It's really All Might!" one of the villains said, "He's even more huge than I imagined!"

"I've never actually seen him in the flesh before!"

One of the villains scoffed at the fear his comrades were displaying and attempted to get their focus on taking him down. "Stop talking, you idiots. If we all attack together, we can-"

Before the villain even had the chance to finish his sentence, the Symbol of Peace had already traversed the distance between them and knocked every single one of the villains unconscious with single, calculated chops to the neck, forming slight gusts of wind from his speed. He quickly sped over the the esper, who was surprised at how fast the hero was able to defeat all of those villains, but unlike everyone else, Mob's eyes were actually able to keep up with All Might's speed.

Shigaraki stood startled by the number one hero's remarkable abilities, for his eyes had been on his form, yet not once did he catch a glimpse of his movements. Even so, it wasn't sounding off any alarm bells for him. "He's fast, way faster than I could keep track of. Even so, he's not as fast as I thought he'd be. Not as fast as he used to be. So it really is true then." The villain felt a momentary sense of giddiness, and his lips widened to form a sadistic smile. "All Might's getting weaker!"

"All Might! You made it!" The green-eyed teenager was relieved to see that the Symbol of Peace had come to their rescue and ran over to his side, also noticing his friend appearing rather fine.

"And Kageyama, you've managed to hold your own against that thing?" the student said, pointing at the bulky creature who was staring blankly at the three.

"Midoriya, why did you come back?" Shigeo felt the worrisome weight being put back on his shoulders when he saw his friend had returned.

"I wanted to come back and help you! I couldn't just let you fight that thing by yourself."

"Very noble move, Midoriya, but you must go return to your classmates. You too, Kageyama."

"Hold on, All Might. I can finish the Nomu by myself." The teenage esper didn't find the need for the Symbol of Peace to join in the battle, believing that such intervention was unnecessary. While the biologically engineered opponent was quite powerful, and its abilities were definitely annoying, now that Mob understood how they worked and had seen them in action, he was confident that it wouldn't take much longer for him to finish the creature off, use his psychic powers to deal more significant damage to his body and use them in slightly more... violent ways.

"No. I commend you for holding this monster off by yourself, but now I will take care of this threat!" After hearing the comments of the two students, it became obvious to the hero that the large black creature was the biggest threat. Anyone who could put Kageyama under pressure was definitely someone that All Might needed to take care of, which was why the Symbol of Peace decided that he was his first target. Then, he'd focus his attention on the other two remaining villains.

"I'll finish you quickly, big guy!"

"Wait, All Might! I need to tell you-" Toshinori rushed towards the Nomu before the esper could finish his speech, and prepared one of his super moves by crossing both of his arms.

"Carolina Smash!" The hero performed a downwards cross chop to the monster's chest, the force of his attack causing the water behind him to spurt up. The Nomu looked down at his chest, expecting the attack to have done more damage, but then looked down at the hero, whose face was twisting with shock at the way the monster took his attack so easily.

"What?" The bioengineered creature attempted to grab All Might, but the hero ducked and countered with a strong forward jab to the creature's stomach. Once again, the Nomu was completely unaffected by Toshinori's punch, and was forced to take more evasive measures against the creature's swipes.

"These blows aren't having any effect!"

"The Nomu's got shock absorption, All Might!" Mob yelled, "That's what I was telling you before! Not only that, but he's got regenerative abilities that let him regrow limbs in seconds!"

Even though the number one hero was having a challenging time with the Nomu, the villain still wasn't secure in their victory. Even though the Nomu was designed to kill All Might, if that psychic brat was working together with All Might, then he couldn't guarantee that the biologically engineered creation could hold out. God, this brat had put such a hole in his plans. Now that their main target had arrived, all the brat was doing right now was getting in the way.

"Kurogiri, get the psychic brat out of here."

The smoke villain did as Tomura instructed and began to form a portal around the esper. However, unlike before, where he was unprepared for the villain's attack and not able to react properly, the esper quickly saw the black mist beginning to form underneath him and swiftly dodged. Kurogiri attempted to form multiple holes to get Mob into them, but the esper was too fast, too mobile for the villain to catch him, floating in the air to more easily maneuver against his portals. Watching this unfold, Midoriya was surprised by the ease with which his friend was handling the smoke villain's attacks. This looked like it was a breeze for him...

As his final resort, Kurogiri send large streams of his body toward Mob like a raging black river, but sadly for the villain, the esper erected a barrier to protect himself from the foe's attack. Since Kurogiri needed to make significant contact with his enemy in order to teleport them, he wasn't able to force the psychic off of the battlefield.

"I can't warp him away, Shigaraki. He's too fast, too multi-faceted with his moves."

"Damn it..." This bowl-haired student was proving to be more and more troublesome than he'd ever imagined. Everything he and his ace troops threw at him, the psychic brat was able to easily match and even overpower. Honestly, Tomura didn't know any other way that the esper could make things worse.

While Kurogiri was attempting to deal with Kageyama, All Might was devising a new strategy to deal with the Nomu. "So you've got shock absorption, then? I think I've got something that'll work against you!"

All Might maneuvered around the biologically engineered creature and wrapped his arms around the Nomu's chest. Then, the hero performed a suplex, lifting the creature above him by using his own momentum and them slamming its head into the ground. The force created a shockwave that sent the two spectating teenagers a few meters back. Once the smoke cleared, it revealed the Nomu's legs sticking up in the air while the rest of his body was buried underneath the concrete. Had Kurogiri not been occupying himself with Shigeo, he would have created a portal directly underneath the Symbol of Peace to give Nomu an opening to strike All Might, but sadly, the villain missed that opportunity.

Well, the number one hero didn't exactly secure his victory: he assumed that keeping him restrained would be enough to take him down, but he'd underestimated Nomu's strength. For a being as strong as All Might, being buried in concrete was the same as being buried in the sand. The monster quickly broke free of the hero's grip and the concrete, causing the hero to scramble back up to his feet. The Nomu retaliated with a strong right jab, which the hero was just barely able to block with his elbow. The punch had the same amazing power and shockwaves as one of All Might's punches, and the hero was sent back dozens of meters. He attempted to dig his feet into the ground to stop his speed, but even that wasn't enough to stop the kickback.

The Symbol of Peace was being thrown back towards Kageyama and Midoriya, ironically, and the esper quickly used his telekinesis to stop his speeding approach, until he was only a few inches in front of them. Mob immediately began to feel an internal sense of panic: he'd felt how powerful the punches of the Nomu were, and they weren't something to be taken lightly.

"All Might..." The two students grimaced when they saw the number one hero raggedly breathing. The Nomu's punch had taken off the sleeves of the teacher's shirt, and there were some light bruises on All Might's forearms. Even a single punch from the Nomu was enough to ruffle up All Might. Their grimaces worsened when they saw the Symbol of Peace cough up a small trace of blood. That's right: All Might was already at his limit. It was the reason why he hadn't come to class today: because he'd already used up all of his time doing hero work. At this point, he was just running on fumes.

The blue-haired criminal cackled when he saw how the Symbol of Peace was staggering, forced back by a single punch from the Nomu. "So you tried to bury him in the concrete, All Might? Nice try, but Nomu's as strong as you are, as you're painfully aware of now."

"You can't do this," Mob asserted, "He's too strong for you." The esper's aura lit around him, and Shigaraki felt his body tense up. There was still rage in him: although it wasn't as particularly intense as earlier in the fight with the Nomu, it was still more than enough to finish the creature off for good.

"I'll take him on alone."

"Absolutely not." Even though the esper may have been capable of defeating this beast, it was not something that All Might wanted to delegated onto him. He was a gentle soul, a person who didn't like to use his powers to hurt others. As much as he could help it, the Symbol of Peace would not allow Mob to fight villains like this. The hero attempted to fill the psychic with a sense of confidence and flashed him a peace sign.

"Don't you have faith in me, Kageyama?"

The esper was not prepared for the hero's question, and was silent for a second. Was he really doubting All Might's abilities? Was it really fair for the esper to question the man who'd been there to help and guide him for the past ten months? He was the number one hero, after all. He knew his power, what he was capable of. His online history class actually went over All Might's rise to stardom and the way it impacted the history of Japan, where he also saw a few videos of the hero in-action. So it wasn't as if he was just some amateur fighter. His anger didn't compare to the level of respect and appreciation he held towards the number one hero.

After the initial shock of the question, Mob gave a small smile to the number one hero. "Of course I do, All Might." However, the esper's expression quickly returned to a serious tone.

"But I do think you're going to need a little help."

Both Toshinori and Izuku lifted their eyebrows up in confusion when they saw Shigeo lift his hand up while his rainbow aura glowed brighter. Very quickly, the number one hero began to be enveloped in this rainbow aura. Now All Might understood what the esper was doing: he was giving him his energy. Of course! All Might had been so focused on taking care of the Nomu, he'd completely forgotten about this facet of Kageyama's abilities. But what All Might was feeling was far more than he anticipated. Shigeo wasn't giving him just a small portion of his energy: he was pouring all of the psychic power he had into the Symbol of Peace.

There were only two espers capable of giving and taking energy from others: Shigeo and Toichiro, both of them possessing an unbelievable quantity of psychic energy as well. For Toichiro, even a small portion of his energy was enough to turn his 600 hundred normal soldiers into powerful espers, allowing them to topple buildings while working together and heighten their abilities to a level not too far from the level of the Scars. For Shigeo, the energy he'd given his master to fight the 7th Division of Claw was more than enough to fodder all of the Scars with ease. But in all of these instances, the psychic energy was being given to average people with no psychic powers or other remarkable attributes. Imagine what would happen if such a large amount of psychic energy would be given to someone like All Might, a hero whose physical strength was unrivaled, who could punch with enough power to change the weather, whose quirk was practically unstoppable.

It was a truly unbelievable power-up: the psychic energy began to fill the hero like a monstrous river. As it coursed through his body, seeping into all of his muscle fibers, it multiplied the power already given to All Might by One For All dozens of times over. Toshinori felt as though he'd been given new life. It was as if the All Might was a wilting flower, and Kageyama's energy was a potent fertilizer, letting the flower bloom with vibrant energy.

Watching this unfold from afar, Tomura's thoughts were scrambling to understand what he thought he was seeing, what the esper was doing to All Might. Whatever it was, it wasn't good for him or the Nomu.

"What the fuck has that brat done?"

"Kageyama, this..." All Might let out a short, spontaneous burst of laughter, for he thought that this was too good to be true. "This is incredible!" The Symbol of Peace clenched both of his fists with excitement.

"I feel like I'm back in my heyday!" But this excitement was very short-lived, being quickly replaced by a sudden burst of anger. All Might recognized this rising fury as a side-effect of Mob's energy transference, having experienced the same kind of shift in emotion the night Kageyama cried in his arms.

Like Aizawa and the other three students, All Might was quite shocked at the determination to fight the Nomu himself, the once docile and peaceful brown eyes replaced by hardened red eyes. What was even more shocking was the anger that was fueling the esper, urging him to do battle.

"There are very few things that make you angry, Kageyama," said All Might, "These villains must be truly despicable if they drove you to this level of rage."

Both Kageyama and Midoriya were confused by what the hero was saying; the esper still hadn't figured out that the energy he gave others could affect their emotional state based on what emotions Mob was experiencing when he transferred his power.

The hero's body began to tremble with this anger. Toshinori decided to use this anger as a weapon, a sharp tool that would pierce the Nomu's defenses and mark him victorious. In fact, now that he'd been powered up to what he felt was his prime, he could employ his next strategy much more easily.

Before any of the spectators even had time to blink, the Symbol of Peace had gotten in front of the Nomu and punched him in the chest at such speeds that even the biologically engineered weapon couldn't react. The shockwaves and wind pressure created from this punch were worlds beyond anything displayed before: a crater dozens of meters in width was formed. The force of the punch shook the entire U.S.J. once again, and the Nomu was sent hurtling across the floor, crashing into a boulder near the mountain section of the U.S.J. Tornado-like winds swept everyone dozens of meters off into the air, but for Mob, having donated practically all of energy to All Might, he couldn't use his telekinesis to stop himself or Midoriya, and the two tumbled onto the ground. Unfortunately for Shigeo, he just so happened to land on the foot that the Nomu had damaged, so when it touched the ground, the esper yelled out in pain, although Midoriya didn't hear his cry due to the high wind pressure and the sound of tremors.

As Shigaraki flew in the air like a bird, the first thought that came across his mind was how much faster the Symbol of Peace had gotten. Although it was difficult to determine with precision, given the difference between their speeds, he could definitely tell that a substantial increase in speed had occurred. Not only that, but it appeared that All Might's punches had also gotten a lot stronger. Even so, it didn't make sense to the villain why he'd even bother with more punches after he'd found out about the Nomu's abilities.

"Weren't you listening to what that kid told you, All Might!" yelled Tomura, "One of his powers is Shock Absorption!"

"Yea, so what?" replied All Might, "His power's only shock absorption, not nullification, which means there's a limit to how much he can take, and thanks to Kageyama, it'll only take a little bit to finish your pet off!"

Watching All Might cause such an increased amount of destruction with a single punch to the Nomu, Midoriya could not believe how substantial of an increase the esper's energy had given the hero. It what All Might had said before was really true, then he was witnessing the number one hero at his best for the first time.

"What the hell's going on over here?"

Kageyama and Midoriya were rather surprised to see that they were not the only students who'd come here: arriving at the scene of battle with no injuries were Todoroki, Bakugo, and Kirishima. As the esper had predicted, both Bakugo and Kirishima were able to defeat the villains that had ambushed them without trouble, and had come here for whatever reason.

"Hey guys!" The green-haired fanboy waved at his classmates to grab their attention. "All Might's fighting a villain! We need to stay back!"

"All Might's..." The three students turned to see what Midoriya was talking about, and sure enough, the number one hero was currently pounding a big black monster.

"So that's what those tremors were," exclaimed Kirishima, his lips curving into a wide smile as he filled with excitement, "All Might's punches can shake the entire stadium."

The Symbol of Peace was supremely confident in this newfound power, so-much-so that he predicted how many blows it would take to finish this fight based on his power and the strength displayed by the Nomu.

"Alright, big guy, four more blows until you hit your limit.

"Four!"

All Might followed up his left jab with a strong right hook to the Nomu's face, sending the monster through dozens upon dozens of trees and creating the same effects as his previous punch.

"Three!" Toshinori rushed toward the Nomu while it was still flying, so fast that it seemed like he was teleporting, clamped his fists together, and slammed the beast to the ground, creating another monstrous sized hole in the ground and destroying more than half of the trees in the section they were in.

"Two!" While the Nomu was entrenched in the concrete, All Might put both of his feet together and kicked the monster in the back. The hero's kick completely shattered not only the ground of the entire woods, but almost half of the ground of the entire U.S.J., including where the five students were.

"And finally..." The Nomu was a wreck: its body, even with its super regeneration, could not heal the tremendous amount of damage being dealt by All Might through multiple attacks with little time to regenerate, and as All Might deduced before, there was a limit on the Nomu's shock absorption, and that limit was about to be reached. While the Nomu momentarily floated in the air, the Symbol of Peace appeared in front of him, preparing his final attack. The rainbow aura burst to life around him, the psychic power enhancing One For All and bulging his muscles to even larger sizes.

"OOONNNNEEEE!"

The Nomu didn't stand a chance: barreling into the Nomu's stomach, the hero's punch tore a hole through the Nomu's stomach and chest, and sent the monster hurtling into the sky, out of the stadium, like a comet. The rock underneath All Might fractured once again, until the hero sunk into a hole ten meters deep. All of the nearby trees were obliterated: All Might's punch had so much power, the pressure it created tore a hole through the U.S.J. dozens upon dozens of meters in size that amounted to almost an entire side of the building. The shockwave also managed to uproot a good portion of the trees outside the U.S.J. in the path of the punch. Inside the stadium, whereas the vibrations the students felt were only noticeable for them, every single one of the students and villains in the stadium were knocked off of their feet by the tremors. The fractured rock caused by All Might's kick completely shattered, causing the exercise areas that were on the side of the U.S.J. where All Might was fighting to break down. Across the entire U.A. campus and all of the buildings within a few miles of the school, the civilians could feel the tremors caused by the hero's final punch and nervously wondered if there was some sort of earthquake that was about to hit them.

Back at the entrance of the school, the students all stood in awe and momentary confusion at what they'd just seen.

"Did you see that thing that just went flying?" asked Sero.

"I think it was that brain guy," replied Sato, "All Might sent him flying away."

"Unbelievable," remarked Shoji, "To think someone possesses that level of strength."

Standing with equal awe and his eyes watering with admiration, Mineta expressed his total respect for the number one hero."That's All Might for you. He's on a totally different level!"

The five students, barring Kageyama, who'd just witnessed the power displayed by All Might felt as if it was the strength of a god.

"That kind of brute strength, who would have thought it actually existed?" Kirishima said, gaining a newfound respect for the number one hero.

Even Bakugo, who was fiercely determined to surpass the number one hero and claim that title, was in awe of what he'd just witnessed. "Imagine having the power to unleash punches that can destroy buildings with their shockwaves."

For the students, this was a clear affirmation of why the Symbol of Peace was crowned with that title, what it took to be a pro hero. Midoriya was also one of those baffled students, looking at the destroyed wall as if it was some sort of miracle, but he knew the truth. This was only possible because Kageyama had given All Might all of his energy. The green-haired teenager gazed back at the esper, whose red eyes had returned to their normal brown color and was staring at the destruction with only a mildly surprised face. It wasn't just All Might who saved the day: it was Kageyama. Without him, who knows how much more of a struggle the hero would've faced.

Watching his trump card be sent flying off into the distance and beaten in less than thirty seconds, the leader of the villains felt his brain was about to explode from fury. His body was shaking with violent anger, his teeth were grinding so hard that Kurogiri could hear the calcium constructs pressing against each other, the veins in his eyes were swelling red, and he was scratching his neck so hard that his fingers were being stained with blood.

"He... No, they both cheated."

But the Symbol of Peace wasn't finished yet. Far from it. He still had more than enough of Kageyama's energy to find the two remaining villains and finish the job he'd come here to do. He jumped up into the air to get a 360 degree view of the surroundings and locate the leader of the villains.

"Shigaraki, we must flee!" Kurogiri instantly went into a panic mode, knowing that with the Nomu gone, neither of them stood a chance against All Might. He quickly shrouded his body around Tomura. The Symbol of Peace spotted the villains, and using his immense strength, created wind pressure that propelled himself toward Shigaraki and Kurogiri. But by the time the number one hero reached the villains, only a faint ember of Kurogiri's black body remained, and with that, the villain invasion was finally over.

* * *

Several miles away, in an abandoned bar in the interior of a large city named Kamino, the only two villains who'd managed to escape from the clutches of All Might and the other heroes returned with nothing to show for their conquest of U.A. High. Still shaking with anger and scratching his neck, Tomura was boiling over how things could have gone so south.

"All of those underlings were wiped out, and Nomu was beaten. This was a failure, a complete and utter failure." The blue-haired criminal's body began to shake even more, and in a fit of anger, he slammed his fists onto the bar, fracturing the wood construct.

"AND IT WAS ALL THAT BRAT'S FAULT! THIS WHOLE THING WAS A FAILURE BECAUSE THAT KID JUST HAD TO INTERVENE!"

"So the mission was a failure?" At the end of the wall, there was a television with speakers, although the image of the speaker was not displayed on the screen. Only the words "sound only" were projected onto the television. Despite hearing of Tomura's failures, the villain's voice was calm and collected, as though this was only a minor inconvenience. Although the voice took an interest in Tomura's statement of a child's intervention. "And who was the child that foiled our plans?"

"Master, that kid, he was so, so powerful. He was probably one of the strongest people I've ever encountered."

"Oh? How so?"

"His quirk gave him enough strength and speed to actually keep up with Nomu, that actually rivaled All Might!"

"Speaking of Nomu," Another voice, slightly higher and more impatient, came up on the intercom, curious to know the reason for his absence, "Where is he? How come he isn't with you?"

"Yes. I'd also like to know where the creature we created is right now."

Kurogiri was the next to speak, looking intently at his palm as he lamented his own failure and frustration. "He was blown away by All Might!"

"What?" The second voice was very shocked to hear that his creation had been defeated by All Might, even though he was purposefully designed to counter All Might's abilities.

"I couldn't locate him without specific coordinates to his location, and I didn't have any time to search for him."

The second voice grew louder, sharing the same tone of disappointment that lingered in Kurogiri's words. "This is a travesty! And after all that time we spent modifying him to make him as strong as All Might."

The first voice did not share the same disappointment as the second voice and quickly accepted the situation for what it was. "An unfortunate loss, but I suppose it can't be helped."

"Wait, master. There's more about that psychic brat." Both voices stayed silent, waiting to hear what other vital information Shigaraki had to share with them.

"Not only was that brat able to match Nomu in strength, but his quirk let him move things with his mind, let him fly, protect himself with barriers, and somehow control plants."

The first voice was taken aback by how someone's quirk could be utilized in such a multitude of manners, and actually began to grow slightly worried. "His quirk has that many uses?"

If his master was surprised at the kind of things that kid's quirk could do, he'd probably be blown away by what he had to tell him next. "And that's not the worst part. The worst part is that he can give his energy to others, which is exactly what he did for All Might!"

As Shigaraki expected, this revelation managed to shock both the second and the first voice, the two of them letting out small gasps of disbelief.

"That's right!" continued Shigaraki, "Once that kid gave All Might his energy, it only took FIVE hits," the villain said, putting heavy emphasis on the number, "for him to finish off the Nomu!"

"WHAT!" While the first voice had accepted the first shocking statement of the Nomu's fate without much trouble, this newest piece of information served as a heavy and dramatic blow for him.

"Only five hits?" the second voice asked, the tone in his voice suggesting that Shigaraki was delusional, for the idea that their prized creation could be taken out so easily was unacceptable.

"Yes. It was like that kid had given All Might new life." Shigaraki's hands clenched into fists, frustrated by how easily their plan had fallen apart once that psychic kid had come into the picture, and more importantly, what kind of impact this kid would have on their future plans.

"Master, what the hell does it matter if the Symbol of Peace is weakened? If he can use that kid as his own personal battery to bring him back to his prime, then how are we supposed to kill All Might?"

The first voice did not respond, processing everything he'd just heard and formulating his own response to this dire problem.

"This is quite a troubling revelation. You are correct: fighting All Might in his prime is not possible, especially the way I am now. To topple hero society, he must be put to an end. This makes that child the largest threat to our plans. To take care of All Might, we must take care of the child as well.

"However, this was not all for naught. We've learned of this child's existence and can better prepare for the next encounter." With this in mind, the first voice decided to inquire more into this child's capabilities.

"Is there anything else about that child you considered remarkable or unusual?"

Shigaraki's eyes glued to the ceiling while he tried to recall the esper demonstrated. Then, he remembered when the kid had first arrived to fight the Nomu and save his teacher.

"When the Nomu first attacked him, he was able to break through the brat's barrier. But once he got pissed, Nomu couldn't penetrate his barriers. After that, he had the Nomu on the ropes the entire time. He couldn't land a single hit on the brat afterward. The kid only stopped when the pathetic piece of trash All Might came on the scene."

"So it appears his powers work in accordance with his emotions. Peculiar, and dreadfully unpredictable. Anyway-" The first voice attempted to shift the focus of the conversation so as not to completely discourage Shigaraki.

"For now, your mission should be to gather more of the villainous elite. Take however much time you require. I must continue to remain hidden in the shadows, so you will need to be my face. By doing this, you will become a symbol of your own, and the next time you show your face to the world, they will understand that they must fear you."

Shigaraki's eyes widened as the voice spoke to him with sincerity and support. His master was putting his trust in Tomura, hoping that he would continue his master's work while he continued to recover from his debilitating injuries.

"Now if you'll excuse me, there are some things I must discuss with the doctor. Remember, this is only the beginning, Tomura." Infusing his last words of support and hope for the future, the television screen went black.

In a separate room far off into the city, at the top of a very high skyscraper, the two voices were seated in a very dark room, which was only lit by multiple monitors displaying several different infographics and data. Connected to the monitors were multiple large processors to help download and analyze the data being displayed on the screens. The first voice belonged to a man with a black suit, but this man was in grave condition. A single look at his face would be enough to frighten anyone who saw it, for almost all of the features, eyes, nose, ears, hair, everything except the mouth was replaced with scar tissue. Connected to the man were multiple ivs and tubes, sticking into his skin and helping his body function. What could have happened to cause such horrendous damage? Who was responsible for putting this man on the verge of death? It was All Might, the Symbol of Peace, who had fought this man five years ago in the fight he'd been preparing for almost all his life. While the hero had taken a devastating blow that wiped out most of his insides, his opponent got it even worse. His opponent, the Symbol of Evil, All For One, had almost his entire body destroyed, leaving him on the verge of death and in such debilitating condition that were he any normal person, he'd have likely died five years ago. Assisting this man was his personal doctor, Kyudai Garaki, who went by the alias of Daruma Ujiko. He was an elderly man with no hair, a very large, bushy mustache, and a very peculiar set of glasses.

"That psychic child is going to be quite a thorn in our operations," the doctor said.

The first voice grew more and more troubled with what Tomura had told him about this child's capabilities, wondering what would have to be done to take care of such a formidable opponent.

"I thought I was the only being with the ability to wield multiple powers at once and lend my power to others. Someone else who has a quirk with such similarities is going to be very difficult to eliminate, especially if his strength is on par with All Might." All For One clenched his fist in irritation. How could someone possess such resounding strength?

"Could this child be the next successor of One For All?"

Doctor Garaki tilted his head to the side, seeing the kind of correlations that existed to make this assumption. "Interesting theory, All For One. It definitely seems possible: based on what you've told me from your multiple battles with One For All users, the quirk significantly strengthens the power of the original quirk and also enhances physical strength by several levels."

"Initially, the levels of physical strength and quirk strength were pathetic, but eventually, the time came when it gave enough power for All Might to best me. He likely took the job at U.A. High and found someone with a quirk with enough potential to pass his own power onto. With such a utilitarian quirk like that, it makes sense why he'd pass One For All onto that child. It kills two birds with one stone.

"If only it were possible for me to obtain that kind of power-up and put me back in my glory days. Sadly, All Might did quite a number on my body, basically turning it into a rotting corpse."

The doctor shook his head and sighed. "If only we'd gotten our hands on the super regeneration quirk five years ago. With your wounds having already healed, the quirk can do practically nothing for you now."

"Fighting two All Mights is quite the challenge, even for me, so we'll have to come up with a way to create powerful weaponry, something with enough strength and versatility to deal with that child's abilities."

"What did you have in mind?"

"I think you should begin the development of the High-End Nomu."

"What?" The Nomu was not a name unique to the creature that had attacked the U.S.J. today: it was a term to refer to a species of mindless beings created by All For One and Doctor Garaki. They'd only perfected the creation of Nomu a year ago, and had already begun the process of creation of the Nomu, having made about four of them, including the Nomu used by Shigaraki. The Nomu were ranked by different levels of strength: low-tier, middle-tier, and upper-tier. The black Nomu was the only upper-tier Nomu they'd successfully made thus far, which took several months of studying and preparation. The High-End Nomu, however, were something else entirely, an idea that was still nowhere close to being put into practice.

"The High-End? I've barely tinkered with them on paper yet! I still require much more extensive research and advanced tools to begin their creation, which will take up a majority of my time and prevent me from creating more Nomu foot soldiers."

"A necessary sacrifice. Unless you can fix my body, for now, that is the most effective way to take care of All Might and that psychic child."

The short doctor agreed with All For One's reasoning and nodded his head. Now that Tomura had begun his development as a villain and they had finally made some progress with the Nomu, they could not afford to have their operations put in jeopardy like this. Shigeo Kageyama had put himself on the top of their priorities, and the esper would not like what that would bring.

* * *

Crouching at the spot where he'd just landed, the Symbol of Peace's body was motionless, his usual smile replaced with a building snarl.

"They got away," muttered All Might. The number one hero's nostrils were flaring, furious at his failure to capture the villains despite his amazing new power given by Kageyama. The psychic energy was also influencing this boiling anger, causing him to act out much more aggressively than usual.

"Damn it!" The number one hero prepared to punch the ground in frustration, but stopped himself at the last second. Even without making contact, All Might's punch was still strong enough to create several gusts of wind and crack the ground underneath him.

"Calm down, Toshinori. It's the psychic energy Kageyama gave you." The hero closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Losing control of his emotions wouldn't do anyone any good: with the power coursing through him, a single punch to the ground would destroy the entire U.S.J., taking out the school and possibly some of the city with it. Besides, he needed to focus on the most important thing now that the main villains had escaped: confirming the safety of the rest of the students.

From his vantage point, the students who were in his closest sights were the five students at the center of the U.S.J., so he quickly jumped over there so fast that it looked like he teleported once again. Once he arrived at the scene, he noticed how Midoriya's verdant eyes were pointed towards the esper's foot. He grimaced when he saw the purple discoloration and the swelling skin. Kirishima, Bakugo, and Todoroki also took note of the way Kageyama was limping and all crowded around the esper.

"Kageyama, your foot! Is it broken?" said Kirishima.

"No way that some weak-ass villains actually managed to hurt you," remarked Bakugo.

Speaking of those villains who were extremely weak, many of the fallen foes who'd been knocked out by Shota and Toshinori were beginning to regain consciousness and ready to continue wreaking havoc. Once they saw the Symbol of Peace standing proud and tall, however, many of them began to buck with fear. Most of them were either too afraid to fight the number one hero by themselves or had already experienced how easily he could take care of them when the hero chopped them all in the neck.

Toshinori readied his fists to strike the villains down once again, but as it turned out, some others had come to lend him a hand. From the entrance of the school, a bullet was shot, hitting one of the villains in the leg and causing them to fall onto the floor. Two more shots rang out towards the mountain area, where Yaoyorozu, Jirou, and Kaminari had been teleported and the electricity wielding student was being held hostage. The bullets hit the villain who was restraining Kaminari in both of his upper arms, releasing the student from his grip.

All Might and the other students averted their eyes to the top of the stairs to see who had fired the shots. It was the hero Snipe, whose quirk allowed him to control the trajectory of any and all bullets he shot. Walking beside him was an army of the U.A. faculty, having finally arrived to assist the young students and put their minds at ease. Sitting on the shoulder of one of the teachers was Principal Nezu.

"Sorry we're late, everyone! I tried to get the teachers here as fast as I could!"

Standing among the pro heroes was Tenya Iida, who'd swiftly and efficiently informed them of the villains and had returned to his classmates.

"Your class rep has returned! I've fulfilled my duties and brought reinforcements!"

The remaining villains mustered up whatever courage they could and aimed their quirks at the teachers. Present Mic made the first move, walking to the edge of the staircase and unleashed a high-pitched sound at the foes, making all of them cover their ears in pain. The next hero to act was Ectoplasm, whose quirk allowed him to create multiple clones of himself from an ectoplasmic stream he released form his mouth. Dozens of these clones rushed down the stairs and knocked down the villains who were ascending the staircase.

Very quickly, the rest of the teachers took action and each began to fan out across the U.S.J., find whichever students were still in-battle and apprehend the remaining villains.

"With the rest of the pros here, I guess this means it's over," Todoroki said, "Though if all of the pros came here at once, it means that the rest of the school is secure."

"Thank goodness," replied All Might. With an army of pro heroes having arrived, the Symbol of Peace found that things had finally calmed down. "Kageyama, let's get you to Recovery Girl and have her fix your foot right away."

The esper flinched with pain: with the rush of adrenaline having died down and all of his psychic energy in All Might's possession, Mob could feel just how bad his foot had been damaged by the Nomu and when it accidentally collided with the ground.

"Any of you have any serious injuries that need immediate medical attention?"

"I broke two of my fingers during my fight with the villains," Midoriya said, showing the hero his fingers hidden by his elbow pad.

"Then we'll go right now. Kageyama, I'll help you up." The hero grabbed Mob by his legs and hoisted him up on top of his back, giving him a piggy-back ride. "The rest of you, meet up with the rest of the class at the front gate."

All Might and his two trainees began walking up the steps, allowing them the opportunity to converse amongst themselves. The other three students took a few seconds to join them, but the distance between them was enough that they were out of ear-shot.

"Kageyama, you really saved my ass back there. Without the psychic energy you gave me, I'm not sure I would've been able to win against that thing. I'm even more impressed that you managed to handle that threat on your own."

It was hard for the esper's lips to curve up into a smile with the pain in his foot, but Mob still managed to flash a small smile, pleased to know that he managed to be of help to the number one hero.

"In fact, with the energy you've given me, I think I'll be able to maintain my muscle form for at least another hour, maybe more." All Might was still astonished by the increase of power Kageyama's energy had given him. To think he had enough psychic power to restore Toshinori to such a state. Even though it might not have been able to last for a sufficient amount of time, as he could slowly feel the energy seeping out of his body, it was still extremely useful.

"Ah, All Might!" Principal Nezu was relieved when he saw the number one hero uninjured, though he, along with the two other heroes who'd chosen to stay back, Midnight and Snipe, were surprised to see that All Might was carrying Kageyama on his back. "Good to see you've defeated the villains without trouble."

"I managed to defeat their most powerful opponent, but unfortunately, I couldn't apprehend the leader of these villains. He warped away before I could reach him."

"Well, the most important thing is that the students are safe." The principal directed his attention towards the bowl-haired esper. "Kageyama, I'm hoping that whatever injury you have can be fixed by Recovery Girl."

"It's nothing, Principal Nezu." Surveying all of the students and faculty crowded at the entrance, he felt his throat constrict when he saw his homeroom teacher slung over Shoji's shoulders, unconscious, bruised and bleeding down his arms. "Mr. Aizawa's the one that's in the worst shape. He needs to be taken to Recover Girl right now."

Once All Might got a good look at his fellow teacher, his eyebrows drew together, shocked and sickened by how badly he'd been injured. "I'll take Mr. Aizawa to the nurses's office, young Shoji."

The multi-limbed student complied and gently placed his homeroom teacher into the hero's arms. Grimness was written all over the faces of Toshinori, Izuku, and Shigeo as they saw Aizawa's broken body up-close. It was tragic that the hero had been put through such torture at the hands of the Nomu.

It became even more tragic when the three of them saw Thirteen, who was missing her back. The battle with Kurogiri had taken a toll on her, and she was barely clinging to consciousness. "And what about Thirteen?" asked Mob.

"We'll get someone else to bring her, seeing as you already have your hands full. She'll be right behind you, let me assure you," replied Principal Nezu.

The three walked in silence for a moment as the other students watched them head to the entrance. Class 1-A had made it through this ordeal and had gotten a first-hand experience of the dangers and enemies that heroes had to go up against on a daily basis, the kind of darkness that laid lurking in the shadows of society, ready to wreak vengeance and destruction.

* * *

When the school nurse had heard about the villain attack from Principal Nezu, part of her anticipated that Midoriya would come to her office later that day with some form of injuries. Sure enough, the next inheritor of One For All walked in with two of his fingers broken less than fifteen minutes after Nezu had informed her of the attack. But she had not expected to see Shigeo Kageyama with his hands latched onto All Might's shoulders while he rode on the hero's back. She'd seen his unbelievable performance during the entrance exams and was also aware of his successes during the quirk apprehension tests and the battle trials. If any of the students other than Midoriya were be injured during the villain attack, Kageyama was the last person she would've suspected.

She instantly put aside that momentary shock when she saw Shota and the horrendous condition he was in.

"Aizawa's in bad shape," All Might said with a frown on his face, "Both of his arms are broken, but I don't know how badly the bones are damaged."

"Dear me! Let me have a better look!" The elderly nurse approached All Might, where she gazed closely at the unconscious hero's arms, taking note of the deformed position they were in, the heavy discoloration, and the blood oozing around the sites of fracture.

"This is very serious indeed. I'll have to get an x-ray of the broken bones to get an idea of how much of my power I should use on him.

"All Might, put him down over there." Recovery Girl pointed to the x-ray machine at the end of the room, and the number one hero gently placed the unkempt teacher on the table.

"Just take it easy, Kageyama. We'll put you on the bed over there," All Might said, resting the bowl-haired esper on the bed a few feet away from Aizawa.

While All Might was busy getting Aizawa and Kageyama on their respective beds, Recovery Girl decided to get the easiest part over with.

"It makes sense that you came here to see me with the villain attack," murmured Recovery Girl, "Though I'm surprised you only broke two fingers. Normally, I'd scold you for being so reckless with your power, but seeing as you were faced with a life-and-death scenario, I'll let it slide." The nurse's lips extended out towards the teenager's middle finger, which began to glow bright green as his body healed the broken bones. As anticipated, Midoriya felt his eyes begin to droop, which was only made worse as his left thumb was repaired.

"All done!" Recovery Girl wrapped some bandages around the teenager's fingers, and like a typical nurse, gave the child some gummies as a treat. "Now if I were you, I'd go back and rejoin my classmates."

"Actually, I think it'd better if you got changed back into your school uniform and headed back to your classroom," All Might suggested. "It's a long walk back to the U.S.J., and once all the class has been gathered up, they'll likely be sent back to the classroom, so it's not worth the trip."

"Oh, that makes sense." The green-haired student directed his eyes towards his friend. "I'll be waiting for you once you get out of here."

"Sure thing." The number one hero couldn't hold back his smile. He was being reminded of how much these two had grown, the special bond they carried after all those back-breaking months and fond memories created. It warmed his heart.

"Thanks again, Recovery Girl. I'll see you later, All Might!" The fanboy extended his last farewell before exiting the nurse's office. With Midoriya's injuries out of the way, the nurse swiftly walked over to the x-ray machine to turn it on. She put a lead apron over Aizawa's unconscious body to protect him from the radiation, then positioned the machine over the teacher's right arm and began sending the x-rays through his arm. The entire process took less than ten seconds.

"The images will take a few minutes to develop, so let's place him in another bed." The number one hero did as instructed and lifted Shota onto the bed next to Shigeo. All Might and Mob expected the nurse to quickly use her powers on Shigeo, have him fixed up in less than ten seconds, maybe have him stay for a little while to rest, and send him on his merry way. But what happened next was something neither of them had expected or prepared for.

"While I'm at it, let me take an x-ray of your foot, see how badly the bones are broken, if they're even broken at all or if it's just your muscles that have been torn."

"Oh, come now, Recovery Girl. That's not necessary!" The number one hero put up a fake smile, attempting to hide the developing panic. If Recovery Girl took an x-ray of Kageyama's foot, then she'd notice the extra joint in his pinky toe, realize that he was technically quirkless and therefore should not have any powers.

Kageyama also came across this realization and followed All Might's lead. "Yea, my body can handle the energy I need to heal my wound."

"Unfortunately, I'd rather not take that chance and risk you using more stamina than you have. You already look somewhat worn out, so I doubt you have that much stamina remaining." Although his battle with the Nomu while he was at 100% Rage hadn't drained any of his stamina, transferring his psychic power and the subsequent worsening of his broken foot had caused his body to tire, which was why Mob was looking nominally pale and had a few wrinkles underneath his eyes.

"Tired? He looks perfectly lively!"

Recovery Girl's eyebrows squished together in confusion. "What's with all the hullabaloo from you two?" she said, finding no reason for either of them to make a big fuss over something as simple as an x-ray.

The two of them exchanged uneasy glances. All Might felt like he was stuck between a rock and a hard place: if she took the x-ray and saw the anomaly, that would only create unnecessary suspicion and force them to come up with some bizarre explanation, one that she would likely not believe or might draw unwanted attention. In that case, the only other option was to come forward about Kageyama's origins and how he came to be a student at U.A. High. That option wasn't really so terrible: Recovery Girl knew about One For All, after all, so it wasn't like she wasn't close to him or couldn't keep a secret. The hero supposed that now was the time to finally tell the school nurse the truth.

"Listen-"

All Might was interrupted by the sound of pained moaning coming from the bed next to Kageyama. The three conscious people saw Eraserhead's eyes slowly flutter open, wincing in terrible agony as he became painfully aware of his injuries.

"Where... Where am I?"

"You're in the nurse's office, Aizawa," said All Might, "You took a real beating." The eraser hero familiarized himself with his surroundings and saw that Kageyama was sitting beside him with a swollen foot.

"So you made it out of there in one piece, Kageyama," Aizawa remarked, getting only a small, shy nod of confirmation from the esper in response. "And the rest of the class?"

"The teachers and the police are on the scene, and all of the students are secured," the number one hero replied.

"Don't you fret, Aizawa. You should focus on getting some rest. I've already gotten your x-rays and am going to give you a healthy dose of my quirk in a few minutes. Now Kageyama, your turn. Please put the lead apron on."

Toshinori and Shigeo were facing a large problem, and at this point, neither were sure they could do anything about it. Now that Aizawa had regained consciousness, he couldn't tell Recovery Girl the truth. But if they kept on trying to dissuade the nurse from the x-rays, that would only make her more suspicious and confuse Aizawa as well. The only option they were left with was praying that Recovery Girl wouldn't notice the extra appendage in his pinky toe.

As the esper got himself up on the table and readied himself for the x-ray, the eraser hero continued to moan in agony. "I can't even move my fingers without feeling like a knife is stabbing through my arms."

"I'm sorry that I couldn't come and rescue you sooner, Mr. Aizawa," Mob said, feeling that his teacher's injuries were partly his responsibility and therefore his fault. The teacher didn't hold his injuries against the young esper and tried to give him some form of comfort, even if it wasn't his strongest suit.

"Don't stress yourself over this, Kageyama. If you hadn't come when you did, that thing would've slammed my head into the ground and probably given me serious brain damage, maybe even affect my quirk's functionality."

"Aizawa's right, Kageyama. Don't undervalue what you've done today." The words from All Might and Eraserhead were enough to put his guilt at bay, though as the unkempt hero remembered his confrontation with the Nomu, he also remembered the sudden display of power and ferocity from Kageyama.

"I was surprised by your sudden increase in power," remarked Aizawa.

"Oh. That was just me getting ready to fight," Kageyama said, with Recovery Girl having already finished taking his x-ray and waiting to process it.

"I never imagined that you'd have such anger hidden away. Once you got angry, you became much more focused, unwavering in your resolve to fight. Your eyes..." Aizawa recalled the passive, clear brown eyes that he and everyone else had gotten used replaced by those crimson red eyes, with no innocence, no compassion, only cold-hearted fury.

"Here we are." The school nurse finished processing the images from the x-ray machine and put them up on the board for all of them to get a good look at the teacher's arms and how bad they were. It was even worse than they imagined: his bones were completely fragmented, split apart into more than a dozen tiny pieces. Fragmentation such as this was going to require more than just Recovery Girl's quirk.

"This is quite grave indeed. I'm going to have to do surgery and put the fragmented bones back in place before I use my quirk on you, Aizawa. But still nothing that can't be treated, so no need to concern over permanent damage. Now for your x-ray, Kageyama."

Toshinori and Mob held their breath, waiting in silent anticipation and dread as the moment of truth came upon them. The nurse replaced the teacher's x-rays and put the esper's x-ray onto the light board. The damage wasn't so glaringly obvious as with Aizawa, so the nurse had to lean in closer to the image.

"It looks like there're some transversal fractures of the metatarsal bones on the big and index toes. There's also an oblique fracture of the cuboid bone. Minor problems, but you'll be out of here in a few hours. Everything else seems perfectly..." Recovery Girl's voice trailed off as she continued to observe in detail the different bones of the foot, working her way from the big toe all the way to the pinky toe. But when she got to the pinky toe, there was something that was there that shouldn't have been there.

"What is this?" The nurse pointed at the second joint in the pinky toe, rapidly blinking and internally questioning whether or not what she was seeing was even there. "A second joint in the pinky toe?"

All Might and Mob felt both of their hearts stop, the blood in their bodies running cold as their worst fear came to pass. The school nurse turned her head back to the esper, a blank look on her face and her eyes narrowed with confusion. "But... how?"

Aizawa was processing this a little bit differently: like Recovery Girl, his eyes widened with shock at this unusual finding. But unlike her, this finding made him recall what had happened when Kageyama first tried to confront the villains by himself.

"When you tried to fight the villains at first, Kageyama, I tried to erase your quirk, but nothing happened." The two superpowered humans jerked their heads back. Mob hadn't even noticed his teacher do this to him, so he wasn't ready for this confrontation. "The only time my quirk doesn't work is against mutant quirks, but your quirk is clearly an emitter-type. If you have two joints in your pinky toe, and my quirk doesn't affect you, the only possible explanation is... you don't have a quirk."

All eyes were on Shigeo. The truth about his quirkless nature had been revealed to the two teachers, each of them wondering how in the hell it was possible for someone to have supernatural abilities without a quirk. So now what was to be done? How would the teenage esper react to this situation?

After a few seconds of silence, the atmosphere in the room brimming with tension, Mob drooped his shoulders down and averted his gaze toward All Might. "We might as well tell them the truth now, All Might." For one, the psychic was terrible at lying or coming up with excuses, and two, it just didn't seem right to openly lie to their faces now that they'd figured out the truth about his quirk.

"Huh? You knew about this, All Might?" The unkempt teacher only grew more confused, unable to understand how this all fit together. The number one hero sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Aizawa wasn't someone he'd been keen to add to the loop about Kageyama's origins, for the two still had several conflicting points of interests and differences in personality, as well as teaching style. Those differences really didn't matter at this point, though. Whether he liked it or not, Aizawa would be in the loop of the esper's true nature.

"Alright, you two." Toshinori plopped himself down onto a chair next to Recovery Girl's desk and slapped his hands onto his lap. "The story I'm about to tell you is gonna sound crazy, but it's the truth."

Recovery Girl and Eraserhead looked at each other with confused and uneasy eyes, unsure what kind of bizarre or outlandish story the number one hero was about to recount. All Might started from the beginning, describing the world Mob lived in, the lack of widespread powers, and the few people who existed who, in fact, did possess supernatural powers. As expected, both teachers gasped and bulged their eyes open. But this shock would only continue as he detailed the esper's encounter with Claw, the final battle that tore the city apart, Suzuki's self-destruction, and Kageyama's attempt to absorb the energy to save his friends and the city.

"The energy he absorbed tore a hole through reality and sent him to our world. That's when I found him, about eleven months ago. He's been staying with me ever since."

"My lord..." The school nurse touched her throat, her voice shaky and soft as she took this tall tale in. As with Principal Nezu, she managed to accept this story relatively quickly, considering she was one of the only people aware that All Might's quirk was something that could be transferred from one person to another. Aizawa, though, was taking a little more time to digest what he was being told.

"Take your time to process this," said All Might, knowing full-well how ridiculous this story sounded, especially for Shota. For more than ten seconds, the room remained silent, the eraser hero's eyes staring out into the wall with a blank expression. After this silence, the eraser hero broke the silence and spoke to the bowl-haired esper.

"So you've already had experience fighting villains. Now I get why you were so willing to fight the Nomu." All Might's lips pressed tightly together, his pulse quickening. Was that really the first thing that Aizawa had to say about this? Was he really that cold-hearted?

All Might's pulse lessened when he saw the teacher let out a deep sigh and his face morph into a thoughtful expression. "I'm sorry for what's happened to you, Kageyama." Were his arms not shattered, he would've affectionally patted the young esper on the shoulder.

"Your friends and family are still safe though, right?" asked Recovery Girl.

"That's right, they weren't caught up in the explosion."

"I see..." The elderly nurse could see how terrible and alone this child must be feeling, "A truly terrible loss."

"And does anyone else know about this?" Aizawa said.

Upon hearing this question, Toshinori took a small glance at the school nurse. "Just the principal." Recovery Girl grew perplexed when she saw the hero extend two fingers, his hand still on his lap and out of sight from Aizawa. The hero prayed that the nurse would get the message.

Recovery Girl tried to figure out what All Might was telling her. It seemed as though there was some other secret that he was trying to keep, something that he didn't want Aizawa to see. But what could it be?

She remembered now: when he was in her office to visit Midoriya after the battle trial. He'd mentioned a fifth name among the people who knew the truth about One For All, but stopped half-way through. The name started with a K, that much she knew. Could that mean...

Now the nurse understood: Kageyama was one of the people who knew about One For All. This likely meant that Midoriya also knew about Kageyama, his status as a person from another world. That's what All Might was trying to tell her, that the only other people who knew were Nezu and Midoriya, making it so that Aizawa wouldn't find out the secret of One For All, since it wouldn't really make sense for Midoriya to know about Kageyama for no apparent reason.

The nurse gave a short nod to confirm that she'd gotten the message, and All Might returned the gesture with a small nod of his own.

"I don't want any of the other teachers to know. It would only draw unwanted attention towards Kageyama."

"That's a sensible approach to this issue," said Aizawa, "Having a bunch of heads poking into an issue like this is only gonna makes things more hectic and annoying. You don't have to worry about me spilling this information with anyone." The eraser hero couldn't mask his unbelievable pain, and he closed his eyes while he moaned in pain.

Recovery Girl swiftly rushed over to his side. "I need to get started on the surgery right away. I'll administer some anesthetic and put you under. It'll be over before you know it."

"Enough about me, Mr. Aizawa. Just focus on healing yourself up," added Mob, his brow wrinkling with worry while the school nurse began administering the proper dosage of anesthesia. The unkempt teacher did not resist, resting his head on the pillow and allowing his body to relax as the drugs were pumped into his body and quickly slipping him into sweet unconsciousness.

"That ought to have put him to sleep." Now that the eraser hero was put under, the school nurse could confirm the message that the symbol of peace had given to her.

"So Kageyama also knows about One For All. That's what you were trying to tell me, right?"

"Yes. I'm glad you got the message. Me and young Midoriya were the ones who came across Kageyama, and after sorting some things out, we decided it was best he stay with me, and for the last ten months, they've been training together."

"So you got yourself two students working themselves ragged then?" In a surprising move for the esper, Recovery Girl walked over to his side and gently patted him on the head. "At least one of your trainees isn't breaking his body every time he uses his power," she said, attempting to lighten the mood.

The school nurse positioned herself next to the psychic's foot. Her lips extended out and touched the front part of Shigeo's foot. As with Midoriya, his foot began to glow bright green, and the esper felt as though a suction cup had sucked out his energy. It was similar to the feeling of tiredness he experienced after overusing his powers against Suzuki, but less intense.

"I'll give you another shot of my power after I've finished the surgery with Aizawa, so you'll probably have to stay here a while."

"I'll keep you company, Kageyama." The symbol of peace knew this was the least he could do for the esper after everything he did against the villains and to help the hero finish off the Nomu. Mob smiled at the number one hero, who leaned his chair slightly toward the student. Recovery Girl saw the small exchange and couldn't help but silently beam: it seemed like All Might wasn't the completely incompetent teacher she'd been led to believe with Midoriya. During the ten months that Kageyama had spent with the hero, it appeared that All Might had established himself as a good supporting figure for the esper. That was good to see.

"I'll need to wheel Aizawa into the next room. It has all the equipment I need for the surgery." The school nurse wheeled the unconscious hero into the adjacent room to begin the surgery, and at last, Toshinori and Shigeo were alone to decompress everything that had just happened.

"Whoo!" The symbol of peace forced out a small chuckle, then puckered his cheeks to take a sharp breath in and out. "Quite a turn of events, isn't it."

"Mm-hmm." The esper put his head against the wall and caved his chest in, somewhat overwhelmed by all these forced revelations and all of the day's events. "I really wasn't expecting Recovery Girl or Mr. Aizawa to find out like this."

"Recovery Girl's someone who's reliable. She knows about One For All and supported me for years. Aizawa..." The number one hero rubbed his forearms, "Not someone I'm particularly fond of, and not someone who knows about One For All. Still, he's a teacher of U.A. High, and even though he acts rough, he's kind in his own way. I trust him enough to keep your secret.

"But enough of all that. I think it's time for you to relax. You've had a rough day." Toshinori placed his hand on Mob's shoulder and gently patted it once. He'd had his first encounter with real villains in this world, broken his foot, and been suddenly confronted by two teachers about where he really came from. Now, all the esper needed to do was sit back, relax, and calm himself down while All Might sat by his side.

* * *

Shortly after this revelation, Thirteen was brought by some of the other heroes, where she was then placed in the same room as Aizawa. For Kageyama, most of the afternoon was spent waiting for Recovery Girl to finish patching up both of the heroes. During this time, Kageyama remained mostly silent from the events of the day and taking an hour long nap at some point in the afternoon.

It was late afternoon: the sun was already beginning to set, creating a dark orange hue which lit up all across the school. In the nurse's office, Recovery Girl had already given Mob his final shot of her quirk and completely healed his broken foot. Once finished with his recovery, the esper darted out of the room without All Might, who said that he needed to stay a little while longer to talk with a detective over the details of the U.S.J. incident.

By this time, the esper knew that classes had already finished and most of the students had likely gone home already, so he decided to head back to the apartment and wait for All Might to finish whatever business he still had pending. As he made his way to the front entrance, he was surprised by the appearance of several of his classmates. Three of those classmates consisted of those who he'd gotten the most acquainted with and spent the most time with thus far: Midoriya, Uraraka, and Iida. But then, there were two additional faces with whom he was surprised to see there: Yaoyorozu and Tokoyami.

"Kageyama, you finally made it back!" Uraraka said.

"Recovery Girl's treatment took quite some time," added Iida.

"It's a relief to see you up and running again." The tall girl approached the esper with a look of joy in her eyes. It was fortunate for the esper that it was so late at night, because had it been day, Mob's blistering hot face would have been easy to spot. It touched him very deeply that she had taken the time to stay after school and wait for him. For her, the way that Kageyama had given his words of condolences for her loss of the class president campaign, even if it was only minor, had shown a great degree of kindness and consideration on his part, and Momo felt that waiting for him was the right way to reflect that kindness.

Tokoyami also approached Shigeo with a rare smile on his face. "You fought valiantly, Kageyama. I wish I could've been there to lend you my aid, and as the one who fought the villains alongside you, I felt I owed it to be there when you recovered."

The esper found it hard to give a proper reaction, too touched by this small yet potent gesture from all five of his classmates. "Thank you all," said Kageyama, the only words he could think of to express his gratitude.

The green-haired fanboy's eyes glowed brightly, and he motioned for the esper to come towards him. "Now come on. It's late, and we should be heading to the station."

The six classmates repeated their walk back to the train station. They'd survived their first villain attack, seen what it took to be real pro heroes. Little did they know that even more calamitous threats would be on the horizon, but at the moment, none of that mattered to them. In the end, they'd made it out alive, they'd shown their potential, and they did it together, and that was all that mattered.

* * *

**My Hero Academia/Mob Psycho 100 Ultra Analysis**

**\- Had Mob continued to fight the Nomu by himself, he would've defeated him without incurring a single injury.**

**All Might takes the glory of this victory, but this time, he does it with a lot more ease. Now, Kageyama has become a much bigger threat to All For One, much more than if he'd simply beaten the Nomu by himself, since his existence and support is directly tied in with All Might. Makes you wonder what more will come out of this, what kind of other threats will arise, how Mob and the rest of his class will handle it. You'll just have to find out in the next chapter, where the second season of My Hero Academia begins and the U.A. Sports Festival is around the corner!**


	15. Preparation

**Almost a month passed, and here is Chapter 15! **

* * *

With the school day at an end and all of the students having already gone to their homes, each were quite impacted by the day's events, what it signified and the kind of experience it brought. In the home of Izuku Midoriya, his very emotional and concerned mother had quite the dramatic outburst when she learned of what had happened at U.A. and had shed some initial tears of shock, after learning that her son was basically uninjured, she got over it and decided to make his favorite meal to celebrate the fact that her son hadn't died during the incident.

Sitting in his room, the green-haired fanboy was doing as a fanboy did and watching All Might's big video his thousandth time, seeing the way the hero rise up from the destruction with the smile that quickly became his trademark. That confidence, that strength, his ability to save so many lives, they were all aspects of All Might that made him such an amazing hero. He and the rest of the class were so far away from being that kind of hero. During the attack, all the students couldn't do anything to help Aizawa or Thirteen. Everyone except...

"Kageyama was the only one of us who did anything impactful. He had the power to take care of the Nomu and took charge of the situation. And he was the one who gave All Might the power he needed."

The young teenager picked up a dumbbell and started doing bicep curls with his functioning hand while he continued to think about the significance of the U.S.J. incident. "In order to gain the power to truly oppose evil, I have to make One For All my own, master every aspect of it, because All Might chose me. I'll make him proud, and I'll become strong enough to fight villains like he and Kageyama do."

Midoriya was driven out of his thoughts by her mother knocking on his door. "Izuku, your dinner's getting cold," she said, opening the door and peaking her head through it.

"I'll be there in a sec, mom."

"Remember, your muscles need fuel!" As the affectionate mother gazed at her pure-hearted son, her own heart was relieved to see Izuku continuing to work hard, persevering through the hard times and unexpected occurrences. As long as her son was smiling, she could smile too.

* * *

The U.S.J. attack was on every news stations, every news channel, all of them talking about the very bold and dangerous attack these villains orchestrated. In the media, newscasters and radio hosts were commending the bravery of the students, displaying images of the students after the attack. Another prevalent discussion on the minds of the media was the fact that these students even had to fight in the first place, how U.A. High could have allowed something like this to occur on such secure grounds.

Sitting in their desks, some of them basking in the glory and attention they were receiving, Class 1-A was ready to go about with their regular day.

"Man, you saw all the news stations talking about us?" gloated Kaminari, "It's like we've become celebrities or something."

"I know, right?" Kirishima agreed.

Sitting beside the two friends, Jirou dismissed their boasts with a wave of her hands. "Come on you guys, you really need to get over yourselves. All the media cares about is that the hero course was attacked by villains.

"Who knows what would've happened if the teachers hadn't shown up," said Sero.

The frog-like teenager put her finger to her chin and glanced at the bowl-haired esper while leaning her chair. "Oh, I don't think it would've been so bad."

Sitting at the front of the class with his arms crossed and his head slightly turned toward Mob, Bakugo quietly eyed the psychic, impatiently tapping his finger. Something big'd happened with him yesterday...

* * *

_Now that the police had arrived, Class 1-A had all gathered outside of the U.S.J. They were watching as dozens upon dozens of villains were shackled, chained together by their hands and feet while they were all directed towards ten large squad buses that would take them to jail. Most of the classmates were talking about how scary the attack had been, what kind of villains they had to fight, and even complimenting some of their classmates for how well they held their own against their enemies. However, many of the classmates were concerned about the health of the teachers who'd been so badly hurt, with Mineta and Tsu expressing worry over Aizawa's condition. while Yaoyorozu, Jirou and Ashido were worrying over Thirteen. The detective on the scene, Naomasa Tsukauchi and the man who happened to be friends with All Might, assured the students that the teachers were perfectly fine. _

_Tokoyami, though, was most concerned with the one he'd fought against during this whole incident, wondering why he wasn't with the class. He'd left his classmate to lend a hand to Aizawa, and felt partial responsibility for anything that could've happened to him. "Where's Kageyama? Did he get injured?"_

_"Yes, he received a minor injury on his foot. One of your other classmates, Midoriya, had some light injuries as well. But none of you should worry about them. Recovery Girl's taking care of both students, so they should be good as new by the end of the day. We should get all of you to your class." _

_The detective spoke with a few of the other police officers, leaving the students to talk amongst themselves. Most of the conversations currently taking place were about how Kageyama could've been injured at all. Some of the loner students like Bakugou and Todoroki had distanced themselves from the others by a few feet, with the explosive student tuning his ears to the conversations about Kageyama._

_"Was Kageyama actually got hurt by those villains?" said Ojiro, "I mean sure, they had strength in numbers, but Kageyama should've been able to take care of them without a problem." _

_"And that's exactly what he and I did." Tokoyami set some of the facts straight about their confrontation with the first batch of villains they came across. "Once we took care of them, Kageyama went off to help Mr. Aizawa." _

_"Kageyama freaking whooped ass!" Mineta, who was also hearing this conversation, decided to join in and note of how incredible the esper had performed, with Tsu walking beside him. "Once he came on the scene, he kicked that big bird guy to the curb. Isn't that right, Tsu?"_

_"Yea, Kageyama didn't pull any punches..." The frog-like girl put her finger to her chin, remembering the esper's ferocity and sudden determination. "Mineta, you saw what happened to Kageyama's eyes, how they turned red." _

_"His eyes turned red?" Upon hearing this revelation, the blonde-haired teenager walked in to officially join the conversation, his eyes opened with shock and curiosity, and the white and red-haired student decided to walk a few steps closer without fully entering the conversation. So it happened again? The bowl-haired nerd had undergone the same kind of change that occurred during their confrontation after his battle with Midoriya? _

_"It was actually kinda scary," added Mineta, "Never knew Kageyama could get so serious." _

_"What's even more surprising is that it seemed to give him a boost in strength. Before his eyes changed, his barriers couldn't hold up against the black thing's punches, but once he got angry, his barriers couldn't be broken." _

_"So his anger made him stronger?" said Bakugo._

_"I'm pretty sure," Tsu replied._

_Many of the students were startled by this fact, finding it hard to believe that the shy, soft-spoken and humble student they'd come to know these past few days could possess such a ruthless, angry side of himself. The explosive teenager was taking it the worst of them all: so Kageyama was being quite literal when he said he was fueled by rage. Although he wasn't exactly quite sure how it worked, it seemed as though there were certain times when the psychic's anger burst out, triggering a significant change in personality and power. Who knew how much more powerful he was in that state: it got him thinking about some of the other tremors he'd initially felt during his fight with the low-level thugs. Could some of those tremors have been caused by Kageyama? Bakugo's skin shuddered just thinking about it. So much power in the hands of such a shy, weak-willed nerd..._

* * *

Watching the bowl-haired esper sitting in his seats with those dull, lifeless eyes of his, it only made him want to work even harder, push himself to the very limit in order to be able to beat him one day, stand victorious.

"Kageyama, you totally had everything covered!" said Mineta.

The esper wasn't feeling particularly proud of what he did during the U.S.J. incident and tried to deflect the attention away from his performance. "I mean, I held it off, but All Might's the one who actually took the Nomu down."

"No kidding, did you see how badass All Might was," said Sato, energetically punching the air as he remembered the tremors he felt during All Might's battle, "His punches literally brought us all to our feet!"

Tokoyami crossed his arms together and closed his eyes. "A truly miraculous force, yes."

On the clock, the minute hand struck the 24 marker, and rushing in from the side came Iida to fulfill his duty as class rep. "Everyone, class is about to begin, so please take your seats!"

The blue-haired teenager addressed the entire class, only to realize that not a single person was out of their chair except for him.

"Uh, we're all in our seats."

"That's right, you're the only one who's not sitting."

The class representative slowly walked to his seat with his shoulders hunched and his body shaking with frustration. "Dang it!"

"Eh, don't worry about it," said Uraraka.

"Morning class." The entire class heard the voice of their homeroom teacher and looked at the door, only to find Mr. Aizawa with both of his arms wrapped together with medical tape with a sling around the two appendages. The students were all quite shocked at the extent of his injuries and how he actually even had the strength to teach class.

"Man, what a pro," said Kirishima.

"Mr. Aizawa..." The powerful esper bit his lip, the guilt rising inside him as he watched his teacher trudge to the front of the class. Even though his injuries would be healed, he still felt this could have been avoided if he'd simply gotten there quicker.

"I'm pleased to see you're ok, Mr. Aizawa!" shouted Iida.

"My well-being is irrelevant. No, the thing that's most relevant at the moment is the fact that your fight hasn't finished."

Upon hearing this, a wave of dread washed through several of the students. When they heard those words, the first thing that came to mind for them was that there was some sort of big threat coming once again, and their teacher was going to warn them of how dangerous it would be.

"Our fight?"

"Don't tell me..."

"More bad guys?"

"The U.A. Sports Festival is about to start."

The first student to react was Kirishima, who wiggled in his chair with excitement and let out a big "YES!". For the rest of the class, however, they were all shocked and slightly angered that their teacher had said something so dramatic, so ominous, for something like a sports festival.

"How could you scare us like that?"

Kirshima continued to gleefully talk in his seat. "Hell yea! We're gonna kick some serious ass!" Sitting next to him, his friend Kaminari slapped his cheek to silence him, not as enthusiastic about this revelation and feeling like there were some things that didn't seem right here.

"Are you sure holding the sports festival's a good idea after the villain attack?" asked Jirou.

"They could possibly attack the students since we'll all be in one place," added Ojiro, his brows furrowed with concern.

"The U.A. Administration has taken that into account and ultimately decided that holding the festival will show that the situation's been handled and the school's safer than ever. Security's been beefed up significantly in comparison to past years, and this is an extremely important event for all students at U.A. High, and it can't be cancelled because of a few villains."

Some of the students, specifically Mineta and Kageyama, did not adhere to their teachers or the school's reasoning, and found holding a festival at this time to be a very bad idea.

"Are you sure about that?" said Kageyama, "I mean, it's just a sports festival."

The green-haired fanboy's eyebrows perked up. "Kageyama, don't you know how important this festival is?"

"The sports festival is one of the most watched events in the entire world. Before quirks came into existence, people would flock to the Olympics and watch as athletes competed, but this event quickly decreased in both scale and viewership once people developed quirks. Now, the most anticipated and watched competition is the U.A. Sports Festival."

"That's correct." Sitting in the back of the class, Yaoyorozu clenched her fist in determination. "And all the hero agencies and top heroes will be watching. It's where you'll be scouted."

Kageyama listened in silence while the other students clamored amongst themselves about the purpose of the Sports Festival. He'd never heard about this event and was being given several facts he was unaware of. So this was the opportunity for students to shine and pave a better future for themselves.

"Being able to intern at a famous hero agency will definitely earn you points," continued Aizawa, "And that's why this festival matters. If you wanna go pro one day, this event is gonna open a path for you. One chance a year, three chances in a lifetime, no aspiring hero can afford to miss this festival, which means you can't slack off on your training."

"Yes sir!" The classmates were motivated and invigorated by their teacher's speech. They were being reminded what this could do for their future careers, the significance of this festival. No way were they going to let this chance pass them by!

"Class is dismissed." Having gotten the main message to the students and with no other important lessons or lectures to give, the homeroom teacher walked out of the classroom, letting the rest of the students talk amongst themselves.

As expected, Kirishima was the first to get out of his seat and once again voice his excitement. "Sure, the villain attack was a bummer, but I'm pumped for these games!"

"We put on a good show, and we're basically on our way to being pro heroes!" Sero said.

"This is a very rare chance, so I must make sure I don't waste it."

Kageyama continued to watch while each of the classmates formed into small groups to talk about their excitement for the U.A. Sports Festival. For the esper, while he understood how big this festival was, didn't really feel excited or pumped in anyway for his chance to shine, and was taken aback by the energy level of all the other students.

"Wow, everyone's really excited for this."

"Well of course we are!" Iida, who was still sitting in his seat, got up and flexed his arms out. "We've all enrolled at this school to become heroes, so it's only natural that we're getting fired up." The blue-haired teenager began to perform a very awkward dance move, slightly swinging his waist while he moved his hands in the opposite direction.

"Pretty interesting dance moves, Iida," remarked Tsu.

"Surely you must be excited about this sports festival, no?" Iida motioned his hands to the esper, expecting him to have at least some sort of fire or excitement in his eyes, but was sorely mistaken when he saw the same dull, lifeless brown eyes staring back at him.

"Not really, no." The spectacled teenager began rapidly blinking, finding it hard to believe that anyone with such a powerful quirk who was enrolled at this school could be so apathetic towards a big event like this. Standing beside the two of them, Midoriya saw the way his psychic friend took no true interest in this event and internally sighed. This was the side of him he was greatly shocked by, but had come to accept as time passed. The teenager with no great passion, no excitement for basically anything, who simply went through the motions. His friendliness and humility were truly remarkable, but such lack of emotion and desire was equally remarkable.

Before Iida could question his friend's mentality toward the sports festival, his attention was brought to his bob-haired friend, Uraraka, who was surrounded by a pink, fiery aura.

"Deku, Iida, Kageyama, let's all do our best in the sports festival!"

_12%_

The three teenagers drew themselves back, put off by their friend's sudden burst of passion and determination. From behind the three of them, Ashido also took note of this and made her curiosity known.

"What's up? You're like the most laid-back girl ever."

Uraraka widened her stance, pumped her first in the air, and with all her heart and soul, shouted, "Everyone, I'm gonna do my best!"

The reactions from the four teenagers were varied: Ashido replicated her friend's excitement and jumped in the air while pumping her fist. The other three, however, raised their fists with a much slower speed and their eyebrows furrowed, confused and nominally concerned with the behavior of their friend. Then, she turned to the other group of students, Sero, Sato, Kirishima, and Tokoyami, and yet again shouted, "I said I'm gonna do my best."

Like the first three, these four were put off by her burst of passion, reluctantly raising their hands up and feeling sweat beads forming on their faces.

"You all good, Uraraka? No offense, but it kinda looks like you're losing it."

Watching her invigorated with passion with a smile on his face, Midoriya couldn't help but admire her determination, feeling that it reflected his own passion and desire to become a hero like All Might. Now that he thought about it, he had no idea what drove her to enroll at U.A., what made her pursue the path of a hero. He had to ask her!

Very shortly after, the students crowded out of the room to go get their lunch. Walking as a group of four were Uraraka, Kageyama, Midoriya, and Iida, and the green-haired teenager decided to use this moment as the chance to ask her friend the question that was most prevalent in his mind at the moment.

"Uraraka?"

"What's up?"

"What made you come to U.A.? What made you want to be a pro hero?" The female student's mouth fell open, and she took a second to formulate a response.

"Me? Well..." Uraraka rubbed the back of her head and brought her eyes to the ground, not feeling too comfortable with what she was about to say. "The truth is, I'm doing it for the money."

All three male students widened their eyes at this surprising response.

"For the money?" Midoriya exclaimed.

Uraraka frantically began rubbing the back of her head while her eyes continued staring at the ground. "If we're cutting to the chase, then yea." The female student immediately covered her face in shame, understanding how vain her words sounded now that she spoke them out loud. "I'm sorry if that seems selfish and greedy, you guys. You've all got such noble motivations, so I hope you don't think less of me."

"Of course we don't!" Iida quickly defended his classmate's motivations. "Your goal is to support your well-being, which is a perfectly admirable ambition to have!"

"I don't think it's that bad to want to make some money," added Kageyama.

"It's just kinda surprising."

The teenage girl kept her eyes closed for a moment, feeling that she'd have to come forward with what could've been the cause for such a seemingly selfish goal for being a hero. "Thing is, my family owns a construction company, but recently, we haven't gotten any work, so we're flat broke." Uraraka rubbed her hands through her hair in an awkward fashion. "I don't usually tell people this, but..."

"Construction, eh?" Iida and Midoriya both nestled their fingers between their chins, trying to figure out what way Uraraka could benefit the company, while Kageyama simply stood there and waited for Uraraka to continue talking.

"I got it! If she got her hero license, she could probably use her quirk to bring costs down a lot."

"And they could sell their heavy lifting equipment! With your quirk, those machines wouldn't have any purpose if you can just float everything!"

"I know, right!" Uraraka was pleased to see those two were on the same wavelength as her. "That's what I've been trying to tell my dad ever since I was a kid, but..." The teenage girl told her friends how this suggestion went down, the way that her father had been appreciative of the thought, and how both her parents explained that the best way to make them happy was for Uraraka to follow her own dreams and live a happy life.

When she finished her brief story, she clenched her skirt. "I'm gonna become a pro and sign up with a good agency. Once I do that and start making money, I'll be able to let my parents live an easy life!"

The three male students stared in silence as they looked into their friends eyes and saw nothing but earnest resolve.

Iida was extremely moved by his friend's story and determination, and loudly applauded by clapping his hands above his head. "Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!"

Uraraka's cheeks lightly blushed, embarrassed by her friend's grandiose display of admiration. While Iida continued to dramatically applaud, the other two teenagers were equally impressed by Uraraka's firm goal in life and her clear understanding of why she was at this school. For Midoriya, her dream was much more grounded, more clear than his dramatic hero fantasy. For Kageyama, he was most swayed by how much she cared about her family, the lengths she was willing to go to ensure they lived an easier life.

"Uraraka, your dream isn't selfish at all." The esper decided to speak up and took command of the conversation, causing Iida to stop clapping and for the other three to give them his attention. "It may seem selfish on the surface, but it's rooted in your desire to help your family, and I don't really think there's anything much better than wanting to help your family and the people you care about."

_15%_

The blush on the girl's cheeks deepened, and her smile widened. Similarly, Iida couldn't help but smile as well at the way Kageyama gave his words of support to his friends. It may seem so minimal, so minor to someone, but for the friends that were being complimented, when they saw the small sparkle of admiration in Kageyama's eyes, the tone of support in his voice, it meant the world to them.

"You know, while we're on the subject of why we want to be heroes, I can't help but wonder why you're here at U.A," asked Uraraka.

Like Uraraka, the bowl-haired psychic was not prepared for such an open question. "Why I'm at U.A.?"

"Yes, that's an area of curiosity for me as well." Iida and the rest of the class had come to see that Kageyama wasn't a particularly expressive or emotional individual, but after the blue-haired student had seen his indifference to the U.A. Sports Festival, how little he saw the value in the opportunity being presented, he became very confused. If he took no interest in these big opportunities, then what even drove him to come to this school in the first place?

None of the students knew that this question was actually quite a sensitive subject, although they were quickly made clear of this when the esper sighed and leaned against a railway. "All of you have such clear goals, something that you all strive to achieve, something you put you heart into. It's not the same for me.

"I decided to join U.A. because some people close to me recommended I do it. Like you said, Iida, I should be excited for the sports festival, for the opportunities it's bringing, right? " Mob's shoulders hunched, and he leaned his body further against the rail as he slouched. "But I'm not."

Mob put his hand to his heart and tightly squeezed his shirt. "For some reason, I just can't find the passion and energy like you guys can. I don't feel like being a hero in my heart, even though part of me really wants to."

_24%_

The other three students were too shocked by the esper's words to give a proper response. He was being so open, so honest with how he was feeling, and those feelings ran so deep inside of him, that it couldn't help but touch all of their hearts as well. This lack of direction, sense of drive was truly a problem for Kageyama, and he was letting his classmates know about it.

But before any of them could try and give their support or advice, the number one hero's boisterous laugh emanated through the hallway.

"Young Midoriya and Young Kageyama are here!"

"All Might, what're you doing here?" said Midoriya

The symbol of peace showed a lunch box wrapped in a cloth. "You two wanna eat with me?"

The bob-haired girl comedically spit, finding the hero's demeanor hilarious. "That's adorable!"

"What d'ya say?"

The two teenagers weren't quite sure about leaving their friends behind, but Iida gave them both a small nod telling them to go spend their lunch with the number one hero.

"Sure thing," said Midoriya, starting a jogging pace with Kageyama jogging right beside them. Both of them were wondering what this whole thing could have been about, whether there was something grave or serious that the hero needed to discuss with them.

With the two friends gone, the other two friends decided to head on to the lunch and fill their bellies up with food. But as the two were walking, Uraraka's eyebrows drew together, vividly remembering the features of sadness etched onto Kageyama's face.

"Man, Kageyama seemed really bummed out just now."

The mutant-quirked student somberly nodded his head in agreement. "His lack of purpose and drive is a heavy burden for him, something that weighs heavy in his soul. Perhaps that's the reason for his expressionless demeanor." Though this was a big problem for the esper, Iida found that with everything U.A. had to offer and the limitless windows of opportunities, Kageyama would eventually come to solve this problem.

"I'm sure that after some time, maybe even after this sports festival, after seeing what he can do, he'll be invigorated with a new sense of purpose when he gets to actually partake in hero activities and save the lives of others."

"I hope you're right." It pained her to see that her friend was going through this existential crisis, though she was unsure what either she or anyone else could say to help her. As Iida said, it seemed it was up to Kageyama to find his own reason for becoming a hero. Uraraka's body posture perked up. "You'd think someone with a quirk like that would have the goal of being the number one hero."

"Yes, you would, but Kageyama's not like that. No he's... something else entirely." The bob-haired girl firmly nodded in agreement.

The two students entered the lunch room and got themselves in line. While they were waiting, they decided to shift the conversation to something else.

"I wonder what All Might wanted with Midoriya and Kageyama," said Uraraka.

Iida tilted his head to the side and pushed his glasses up while trying to think of a good explanation. "From what we heard yesterday about Kageyama, he held off the black creature for a while until All Might arrived on the scene, though that doesn't explain why he'd want Midoriya to go with him too." The spectacled student took a few more seconds to analyze the situation.

"You remember what Tsu said on the bus? How both Midoriya and Kageyama's quirks were similar to All Might? It's possible because of that, All Might's taken a liking to both of them. How lucky they both are." Uraraka nodded her head in agreement. Neither of them were aware that a few feet in front of them, Todoroki was eavesdropping on their conversation and picked up that little nugget of information.

"All Might, Shigeo Kageyama and Izuku Midoriya, huh?" The cold and unfriendly teenager wondered what kind of relationship those three had with one another, if there was anything else going on behind the scenes with them. He couldn't say for certain.

* * *

The three of them were sitting in the teacher's lounge while All Might was brewing up some tea.

"So why did you decided to call us in?" said Midoriya.

"I just wanted to have a pleasant conversation between the three of us, go over what happened at the U.S.J. and the upcoming sports festival."

"The U.S.J.?" Kageyama found that to be the most important part of their conversation and wondered if there was something wrong.

"Mm-hmm. After getting your power-up yesterday and seeing just how much longer I was able to keep my muscle form, it got me thinking of how else that could come in handy."

"What do you mean?" Midoriya questioned.

The number one hero clasped his hands under his chin. "Right now, I'm only able to use my power for about an hour and thirty minutes, and I can only look like All Might for about three, maybe three and a half hours. But if you can lend me a chunk of your energy every day, I might be able to increase that time by about an hour, probably a lot more if I learn how to ration it carefully." All Might gently bit his lip and exhaled while his eyes looked up at Kageyama. "Would that be alright with you, Kageyama?"

"Are you kidding? I'll help you in any way I can."

The hero nodded, his eyes glowing with gratitude. "You don't have to give me all your energy, since you've still got your classes to worry about, but I'd like for you to give me enough where I can feel a substantial increase in power. Maybe if you give it to me at the start of the day, it'll give you enough time to recover your stamina."

Kageyama saw no problems with the hero's suggestion and nodded his head in agreement. The hero finished brewing the two cups of tea and slid them over to his two students. "Have some tea, both of you."

Shigeo and Izuku graciously took their cups of tea. With this order of business having been concluded, All Might decided to shift back to the Sports Festival, not wanting to leave Midoriya out of the conversation. "Now, about the festival. Midoriya, your big problem is that you still can't fully control One For All yet. Do you have a plan in mind?"

The verdant-eyed fanboy tilted his head to the ground and slouched his body forward. It pained him to say that he'd made little progress beyond his initial step of limiting his quirk to his fingers to minimize damage. "Right now, the best plan I have is to only use One For All with my fingers. That way, the damage won't be so bad and Recovery Girl can heal me in between rounds."

"Is that so?" The number oner hero knew young Midoriya was trying, and he understood how hard it was for the teenager to master this quirk. "Well, just keep trying and practicing using One For All. I think your next big step should be trying to limit how much power you use. In this festival, you're gonna be engaged in close quarters combat, and using One For All at 100% at such close range would likely be a death sentence. You've got a week before the sports festival starts, so that'll give you plenty of time to try and hone your mind, focus it so that you'll be able to hold back your power."

"For you, Kageyama..." The number one hero rubbed his jaw while he thought to himself, "You managed to fight Nomu by yourself, and he was one tough customer, which means your physical strength's already close to my current level. That also means you're gonna have the same problem as Midoriya, making sure your power doesn't hurt your opponents during the festival if you engage in close-range combat. Do you have the ability to hold back the power of your punches?"

This was indeed a good point in the esper's mind. He was only recently getting used to the increased physical prowess his extended training had given him, and it had taken him by surprise a few times, the prime instances being during the quirk apprehension test and the battle trial, when his punch had destroyed the ice and sent Todoroki flying back several meters. He'd learned how to suppress his psychic powers from a young age, though, so it probably wouldn't be too much effort to restrain his physical abilities.

"To be honest, there've been a few times recently where I haven't been able to hold my strength back effectively."

"If that's the case, then put your effort this next week into making sure you can restrain yourself."

Midoriya sat in silence, his face in a neutral expression. So Kageyama had already become strong enough to match All Might without breaking his body, and now his next step was making sure he could restrain his power, while Midoriya was still making little baby steps towards handling a fraction of One For All. Funny how things worked out...

"Your tea's getting cold. Drink up." The two students did as their teacher said, blew the cup and took small sips. The symbol of peace got up from his seat and walked to the window.

"My time as the world's symbol of peace is running out. Kageyama might be able to help a little, sure, but my power's going to keep on dropping, and I can't rely on you to be my personal battery forever. The day will come where I'll have to put that title to bed."

Hearing these words come out of All Might's mouth caused both teenagers to furrow their brows and avert their eyes to the ground yet again. On the other hand, Toshinori's brows furrowed in seriousness and determination. "Some villains out there are starting to notice that, which means someone has to step up to keep the people safe."

The two teenagers sensed the rising seriousness and urgency in the hero's voice, and both of them rose out of their seats to match the rising tension in the room. The number one hero turned his body around and fiercely clenched his hand, his green irises burning with intensity. "Midoriya, I gave you my power for one reason and one reason only: because you will be the hero that takes my place! You and Kageyama. Both of you will become beacons of hope for the world!

"This sports festival will be both of your debuts. It's something that the pros, the entire country will be watching very closely. Both you will be fledgling Symbols of Peace! Izuku Midoriya, Shigeo Kageyama, I want both of you to introduce yourselves to the world and say, "I am here!"" The number one hero's words were deep, representing the pride and hope he had in both of them, the kind of beacons they could be for the world, the kind of strength he thought both of them could embody.

Despite All Might's passion and faith in the two teenagers, Midoriya felt that this was a task that he was not ready to complete. "But All Might, that's your catchphrase! Besides... what can I do?"

"Are both of you aware of how the Sports Festival works?" Kageyama was completely clueless to the structure of this festival, while Midoriya knew every feature of this monumental event.

"Sure I do. Students are separated by class year, and then the support, business, general studies, and hero courses all duke it out in several preliminary trials. Those that manage to make it through those initial games then make it to the finals."

"Correct! Which means both of you will have plenty of opportunities to sell yourself."

Both of the teenagers did not emulate the hero's eagerness with what they were presented, and gave very dull replies. "I guess."

The symbol of peace comedically flipped his body backwards and spewed blood from his mouth, bringing the entire couch he was sitting on along with it. Kageyama and Midoriya quickly tried to put the hero at ease.

"No no, I totally get what you're saying, and you're absolutely right, All Might. But to tell you the truth, it's hard to get excited about this festival after everything that's just happened..." The green-eyed fanboy continued to ramble on like he always did while the esper waited patiently for his friend to finish. Like Izuku, he could not display any sort of excitement, although unlike Midoriya, who was simply worried he wouldn't be able to shine because of how limited he was with One For All, the esper just didn't find any enthusiasm about the festival in general, as he told Iida and Uraraka before.

While listening to this, the hero rolled his eyes. "God, nobody's better at spitting word vomit than you."

"Are you ok, All Might? Here." The esper lifted his hand and used his telekinesis to put the couch and All Might back in an upright position. Toshinori gave the esper a small "thank you" before continuing with what he was about to say.

"There are some heroes who aim for the top, while others happily settle with where they are. The difference between those mindsets has an impact on how far you go in the real world."

Both teenagers tilted their heads down while digesting All Might's words, causing the hero to tone down his thoughts and actions. For Kageyama in particular, All Might was reminding him of how passive, how empty he was with his dreams and aspirations. He was still praying for the day he'd reunite with his family, but until that day came, he had to still find something meaningful to do in this world, something that could let him craft a new life, and he still hadn't found what he was aiming for.

"I can understand how both of you feel, and what I'm saying to you now is more of a reflection of my own viewpoints and the mindset that allowed me to reach the top. But never forget those emotions that you felt at the beach during our training."

"Those emotions..." The esper arched his back down further, staring down at his hands. "I remember how I felt back then, the passion within me, the determination to improve myself and become physically stronger. But those emotions, they were tied around my goal of improving myself." Mob's eyes met with Toshinori's, and the hero was dismayed by the look of sadness. For the esper, a part of him felt like this was his own fault, that it was his responsibility to use the opportunities given to him through All Might's decision to enroll him at this school, and after hearing All Might's words, how he was counting on the esper to become a symbol of peace for this world, it just made Mob feel guilty for not living up to those expectations.

"I'm sorry, but I just can't tie those emotions into being a hero."

_29%_

"Kageyama, you don't have to apologize for that. Look, the way I see what you're telling me is that you felt strong emotions of passion and determination, even if they weren't rooted in a desire to become a hero. That means those feelings exist inside yourself. It might take time, but I'm positive that the day will come when you'll find that same passion to become a hero."

The esper felt a fluttery feeling in his chest. Whatever it took, the esper would do what he could to make All Might proud, to become the hero he was hoping he would be and find the same passion as All Might did to become that hero.

* * *

After their brief but intense conversation, the three of them chowed down on some of the gourmet food in the teacher's lounge. Once they'd finished their food, Toshinori decided that a boost of psychic energy would be nice, so the esper gave the hero a significant chunk of his psychic energy per his request. With all of their business out of the way, the two friends went back to their classroom and got through the rest of their classes.

It was 3:20, and the last class had just finished ten minutes ago. All of the students were ready to go home, finish their homework, get started on their training for the sports festival. But as the students made their way for the door and it slid open, their exit was blocked by a huge thrall of students all looking at Class 1-A. The first-year class was quickly shocked and overwhelmed by the quantity of teenagers all crowded up at the door.

"Why're you all here?"

"Do you have some sort of business with our class?"

"Why're you blocking the doorway? Don't think you can hold us hostage!"

"They're scouting out the competition, morons." The hot-headed teenager casually walked towards the crowd of students, his posture slouched and his behavior apathetic. "Since we're the class that survived the villain attack, they wanna measure us up, see what we're like in-person." The students standing at the entrance stepped back, intimidated by Bakugo's fierce aura and sharp tongue.

"At least you all can see what a future pro looks like. Now move it, extras!"

Several of the students of Class 1-A were shocked and appalled by Bakugo's words. Iida dramatically chopped his hand up and down, telling Bakugo how rude it was for him to demean the other students like that simply because they weren't in the hero course, Midoriya and Uraraka simply trembled with shock and embarrassment while their mouths were gaping open, while Kageyama displayed only mild surprise. The esper prepared to contest Bakugo's claim with his usual calm and patient attitude, but before he could say anything, a voice came from within the mass of students, getting closer as the person speaking moved their way up to the front of the crowd.

"So this is Class 1-A." Once the person got to the front, Class 1-A got a good look at this new voice. It was a male student with messy, indigo hair that flared out in tufts around his head, whose name was Hitoshi Shinso. His eyes were dark purple with dark bags underneath, the gaze from his eyes cold and judgemental. The class could quickly tell that this person was not a fan of their class. "I came here to see the class after hearing how well you did against the villains who attacked, but you just sound like an ass. Is everyone in this class delusional, or just you?"

The hot-headed teenager's veins throbbed, while the students behind Bakugo all began to panic, wildly shaking their hands to signal this student to stop what he was doing.

"It's such a disappointment to come here and find a bunch of egomaniacs." Hitoshi began to run the back of his neck. "You know, I applied to be in the hero course, but like many of the students standing next to me, I didn't make the cut and was forced to pick a different track. Sadly, that's life. However, this sports festival is my second chance. If some students do well in this festival, the teachers can make the decision to transfer those students to the hero course, meaning they'll have to transfer people out to make room. While the others here came to scout the competition, I came here to let you know that if you don't bring your A-game to this festival, I'll take your spot right from under you. Consider this a declaration of war."

While a few of the students of Class 1-A were frightened by Shinsho's harsh words, another student with long, silvery hair in the back of the crowd yelled out in frustration. "Hey you! I'm from Class 1-B, the class right next door to you! I heard you fought some villains and came to see if that was true, but it turns out you're just a bunch of brats with a superiority complex! You can talk big all you want, but that'll only make it more embarrassing when you're wiped out!"

Bakugo paid no mind to the teenager's words of warning, and merely walked through the crowd of people, which only elicited greater fury from the angry student. "Bastard! Don't you ignore me!"

"Yo Bakugo!" Kirishima wasn't liking the image Bakugo was putting for their class and tried to stop him before he left. "You can't just insult everyone to their faces and walk away like that! Say something!"

The hot-headed teenager turned his eyes toward Bakugo, the red pupils cold and indifferent. "None of these people matter. The only thing that matters is that I beat them."

"Of course they matter." The esper finally decided to speak up after finding something he could properly object to, though his tone and eyes were calm and rational as they usually were. "They're people. People with their own dreams and aspirations. We shouldn't place any less value in them based on whether or not they're in the hero course."

The other students standing outside the hallway slightly widened their eyes in surprise, and a few of them began to show smiles of appreciation. On the other hand, the hot-blooded teenager rolled his eyes and scoffed at the esper's preaching, not wanting to waste any time or energy to rebuke Kageyama's statement, and continued to walk alone, causing the silver-haired teenager to once again yell out at Bakugo.

Shinso eyed the bowl-haired esper for a second, his cold, piercing gaze causing Mob to shift uneasily in his place. "Guess not everyone in this class is a self-centered asshole. Still, don't think my declaration of war doesn't apply to you too, so I wouldn't recommend taking it easy for the tournament."

Shigeo's lips were shut, unsure of how to respond and slightly intimidated by the teenager's cold and dramatic words. Having said everything he wanted to say, Shinso disappeared into the mass of students.

"Man, Kageyama, you might've saved all of our asses," said Kaminari, observing the softening expressions of the other students.

"Still, Bakugo wasn't entirely wrong," Tokoyami remarked, crossing his arms, "We will need to beat them during the festival."

"Sure, but Bakugo took it way overboard! He might've made all of them our enemies!" the blonde-haired student said.

Mineta whole-heartedly agreed with Kaminari's statement. "All of these guys could be gunning for us in the festival now!" While these students bickered amongst themselves and Kageyama remained silent, the green-haired teenager was thinking back to what Bakugo said to him and Mob two days ago, the prideful tears in his eyes as he declared he would become the number one hero and surpass both him and Kageyama. He still held firmly onto that goal, and was determined to ensure that no one else would get in the way of that goal. And the same held true for his other friends, Iida and Uraraka, whose hearts were deeply swayed in what they wanted themselves to be and what they planned to do while they were at U.A. High. Midoriya had to remember why he was here as well, the fiery spirit that allowed him to endure the hell he experienced for ten months. He'd be sure to use that fiery spirit to continue to fuel him, make him work to give himself a name during the sports festival.

* * *

Deciding to take some initiative to give Kageyama some guidance with his powers, All Might took the young esper to a very isolated place to control his physical strength. It was in the mountains, several miles outside of town where there were plenty of large boulders and other rock formations to use as target practice with no one around to potentially hurt. After all, the power beings like these wielded entered into another realm.

"So you're gonna teach me how to control how much power I exert with my punches?"

"Exactly! Like I said before, One For All can be a deadly weapon if not properly handled, and your power's on a similar level. With proper control, you should be able to have your body pumping with 100% of your power and be able to punch regular villains with less than 10% of your power. Without it, you'd be blasting the bodies of your opponents apart along with everything around them." The esper felt his palms become more sweaty, picturing himself actually blowing somebody's insides apart with one of his punches.

"So how did you train yourself to control your strength?"

For a second, the hero stood frozen in place, confusing the esper and making him believe that there was some sort of long explanation about to come. Instead, All Might nervously laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "I just sorta, you know, focused my mind on it."

A comedic sweat bead fell down Mob's face. Was All Might really being serious?

"Not a good explanation, right? Truth is, I sorta got the hang of One For All right off the bat. Only took me a month or two for me to control the percentage I unleashed with my fights. It just flowed for me." The number one hero ran his hand through his hair and let out a heavy sigh. "I thought that was a good thing at first, but now I see that it's made it harder for me to tutor Midoriya on how to use One For All properly."

Shortly after this lapse of frustration, the hero's smile returned and he pointed his finger at the esper's face. "Which is why the training we're going to do will not only help you control your strength, but it will also give me vital teaching experience and a better idea of how I should teach Midoriya when he learns to utilize more of One For All without breaking his bones. It's a win-win for all of us!"

Kageyama liked the hero's line of reasoning and indeed saw that this training would prove to beneficial for all three of them.

"Like I said, I managed to gain exact control on the amount of power I exert. For instance-" The number one hero walked over to a boulder that was only a meter in diameter, and punched it. As expected, the boulder broke, though it only broke into less than five pieces. But then, All Might walked to the side of a cliff that towered over the two of them at several dozen meters in height. The hero readied his fingers, and with a flick of his middle finger, shattered the entire face of the cliff. Gusts of air formed from the force of the hero's attack, and the ground beneath them quaked while the cliff quickly collapsed into thousands and thousands of pieces. Mob raised his hand and stopped the cascade of rocks, gently laying them down.

"That is the level of control you should strive to achieve with your physical strength. Do that, and you'll not only be sparing classmates from potentially debilitating injuries, but keep collateral damage to a minimum. Got it?"

Kageyama could definitely see the point that All Might was making now that he'd demonstrated the practical uses in-person. The only times he'd used his fists were against other espers who had physical enhancements and pseudo-barriers, so the damage he dealt was less severe, but now he was going to be fighting fellow students. The way he was now, he'd likely destroy a cliff-face like this when attempting to regularly punch an opponent. Now, he rarely used his fists at all, and it was very likely he'd avoid any close-combat if possible, but if close combat did occur, the last thing he'd want is to potentially kill his classmates, meaning that this training was vital.

"I'll try it out with this rock over here." There was a very large boulder about ten meters high that the esper set his sights on. His aura burst to life around him, and he clenched his hand into a fist. Right now, he had about 30% of his energy flowing through him, more than enough to shatter this boulder, so in this instance, he intended to only lightly crack the rock without destroying the structure. Mob took a deep breath and concentrated to limit the flow of psychic power going through his fist, and with a swift strike, rammed his fist into the rock. Alas, the psychic's attempt was in vain, and the boulder quickly broke apart.

"Not what I was intending..." muttered Shigeo.

"As long as you continue putting your effort into this training, mastery will eventually come to you." The number one hero was confident that Kageyama would quickly manage this task. While he appeared meek and weak-willed, when he put his mind to something, he was unstoppable. Both him and Midoriya had this quality that helped them through their training, and it would help both of them during the time before the Sports Festival.

* * *

And so the students began their training, focusing their efforts on maximizing the potency and efficiency of their quirks through rigorous exercises, many of them waking up early in the morning and making their way to the school before classes even started to ensure that they get the most out of their training. Some of the students were using the U.S.J. and the woods outside of the arena for training, and at the moment, Bakugo was fiercely destroying the trees with his explosive quirk.

"That's the way!" The hot-headed teenager unleashed a large-scale explosion using both of his hands, obliterating a great number of trees and causing Bakugo's hair to stand up with excitement. Bakugo was fully committed to this training, ensuring that he increase the potency of his blasts and the ways in which he could use his quirk. He needed to do this, to overcome Kageyama...

Bakugo's excitement instantly simmered down the moment the bowl-cut came into mind. During this sports festival, it would be more than likely that the two would come face-to-face and fight each other once again, and when that time came, he needed to have some sort of strategy in mind. Their last confrontation, the teenager remembered every detail, every sensation he experienced, and the words that stung Bakugo like a hot poker.

_"Was that supposed to be an attack? That barely counts as a tickle."_

_"Since you didn't get the message the last two times, let me make this crystal clear: if you ever hurt Midoriya the way you did today again, I'll make sure you feel the full weight of this unyielding rage."_

Katsuki grabbed his hair in clumps while staring up at the sky in frustration. He'd never felt so helpless, so utterly overpowered before. Nothing he did could even leave a scratch on the esper, and both of them knew it. He needed, NEEDED, to overcome this obstacle and regain the pride that he lost, or else it would haunt him for the rest of his time at U.A.

In a stroke of irony, on the other side of the campus, the dual quirk-wielding teenager, Shoto Todoroki, was punching the air, his resolve also fiery and his thoughts also on the bowl-haired esper who had defeated them in their trial battle. This sports festival would be the chance for Todoroki to show what he could do, the skill and power he wielded with his right side. Kageyama might've gotten the edge in their last confrontation, caught him off-guard with his abilities, but now that he'd seen the esper's capabilities up-close, he would be able to fare better in their next confrontation. With his mother's ice power, he would win this festival and prove his superiority over Kageyama and the rest of his class.

"Your time's coming soon, bowl-cut."

* * *

**My Hero Academia/Mob Psycho 100 Ultra Analysis**

**\- In terms of physical strength, Mob at 100% Rage is as strong as the current All Might.**

**And now the sports festival is about to start! We'll get to see how all of the students fare in their battles and what Mob will have in store for Class 1-A and the rest of the world! **


	16. Spotlight

The students were so engrossed in their training that before they knew it, the day for the sports festival had finally arrived. During their week of training, many of the students had gotten some quality training and improvement with their quirk, a few of them even coming up with some new moves to utilize during their fights.

For the bowl-haired esper, controlling the amount of energy utilized in his fists and other parts of his body was a piece of cake. By the time the sports festival was here, Mob had already figured out the internal mechanism and focus needed to restrict the output released from his fists. At the moment, he'd learned how to use less than 10% of his power in his fists while having more than 50% of his energy flowing through the rest of his body.

_54%_

All Might was astounded by the level of progress that the young esper was making. He truly wasn't expecting him to manage to get the hang of it so quickly, and when he asked Kageyama how he'd picked it up so quickly, he shrugged his shoulders and gave him the same response All Might had given Kageyama for the same question: it just flowed for him. The number one hero had heartily laughed at Mob's response: it seemed that his phenomenal psychic power also gave him an extremely advanced growth rate and an ability to quickly pick up concepts with minimal practice. Who knew what else Kageyama could do with this kind of potential?

News crews from all over the country and other parts of the world had come to record this event live. Actually getting into the event was more difficult that anticipated, however, due to significantly increased security, and there was a very long line to get passes inside. Many heroes had also been called to act as protection for students in the event of another villain attack, which only went to show how important this festival was to the school.

With the festival close to starting, almost all of the students of Class 1-A had already changed and were currently conversing amongst themselves in the waiting room. A great number of them were wondering what this festival had in-store for them, the kind of challenges it would bring, and whether they would be able to endure those challenges.

"Everyone!" Iida loudly projected his voice as he entered the waiting room. "We're entering the arena very shortly, so put your game faces on!"

Now that the festival would commence shortly, Shoto decided to use the little time they had left before it started to talk to the two people he was most prepared to confront during this festival: Kageyama and Midoriya. Coincidentally, the two of them were talking and standing at the center of the room, but stopped their conversation once they saw Todoroki approach them.

"Hey Todoroki. How's it going?" said Midoriya. The other students watching could tell that Todoroki had something important he wanted to say. The cold, serious look in his eyes was an obvious tell, and the first one those eyes went to was to Midoriya.

"Midoriya, from an objective standpoint, I'm stronger than you." The green-haired teenager parted his lips in surprise, but slightly tilted his head in agreement. Next, the dual quirk-wielding teenager turned his attention towards Kageyama, and he felt a small vein in his head throb at what he was going to say next. "And you, Kageyama, as much as it may annoy me to admit, are stronger than I am from an objective standpoint, as you proved during our battle trial."

"But both of you have All Might in your corner helping you out." The two teenagers were surprised that Todoroki had made such a bold statement and had figured this fact out about both of them. "I'm not gonna pry into the details of any of that, but know that I will beat both of you and avenge my loss against you, Kageyama."

Izuku and Shigeo's lips were parted, both of them feeling a sweat bead falling down the sides of their faces. A few of the classmates watching this debacle unfold could tell this, and were slightly annoyed by it.

"Man, there're a lot of these declarations of war coming out," Kaminari remarked. Kirishima, who was sitting beside the electricity-wielding teenager, got up from his seat and attempted to defuse the situation, placing his hand on Shoto's shoulder.

"Yea, Todoroki, what's the big deal? Why d'you gotta start picking fights like this right before the festival's about to start?" The white-and-crimson haired student pushed Kirishima's hand away from his shoulder.

"We're not here to be each others friends. This isn't a team effort."

"I disagree." Once the esper decided to speak up, the class all immediately tuned their ears in to listen, knowing that whatever Mob was going to say, it would be something long and profound.

"Back at my middle school, I was part of a club called the Body Improvement Club. All of the members of the club were extremely dedicated on strengthening their bodies and improving themselves. Everything we did was a team effort: none of the members ever tried to brag about their strength or argue about which one of them was the strongest. We were all committed to the goal of improving ourselves, strengthening our bodies, and the club always tried to make sure that every member could keep up."

The young esper began rotating his head so that he could look at every student in the class. "To me, I see this class as the same thing. Everyone here came to this school to become an amazing hero. We all share that similarity, that common goal we're all striving to reach. We're all in this together, which makes us a team in my opinion. So why not help each other? Why not try to be there to help our classmates up when they fall down? I don't think a little teamwork would be so bad."

Kageyama stood in anticipation, waiting to see how Todoroki and the rest of the class would react to the esper's words. In a move that surprised the bowl-haired teenager, light applause came from students all across the room. Some of the students, like Todoroki and Bakugo, didn't move a finger, whereas other students like Kirishima and Iida were engaging in fierce applause.

"Dude, you're awesome at giving those short speeches," exclaimed Kirishima.

"I am?"

"Absolutely." The spectacled teenager was likewise impressed by the esper's ability to give very impactful and supportive speeches, which was ironically the thing that Kageyama envied about Iida, his cool-headed nature and ability to talk to a crowd. "Not only are your messages impactful, but your delivery is also extremely well-done."

Standing beside Kageyama, the green-haired fanboy's face beamed. As always, Kageyama was able to bring the class together with his deep messages. He was going to give his own response to Todoroki's proclamation of war, about how he would also be aiming for the number one spot, but giving such a speech after hearing what Kageyama said seemed like it would take something away from the esper's message.

Before Kageyama could give his thanks to both Kirishima and Iida for their words of praise, Todoroki cut him off with the same icy tone in his voice as before. "You can spew all the crap about teamwork that you want, Kageyama, but at the end of the day, there's only gonna be one winner of this festival. Or are you gonna say something like, "everybody's a winner in their heart?""

For this, the esper could not give a proper response, and his lips were tightly sealed.

"That's what I thought." The dual quirk-wielding teenager took a short glance at the clock, and upon seeing the time, began heading toward the door. Iida also looked at the clock and took the same directive as Todoroki.

"Alright everyone. Let's all head out." The students of Class 1-A pushed themselves out of their seats and all headed towards the door. As the students all began heading toward the door, a few of them stopped at the center of the room to talk to Kageyama.

"Dude, don't listen to Todoroki's negative vibe," said Kirishima, "What you said was still pretty deep."

"Glad to see that somebody's not totally obsessing over beating other students," Kaminari said.

"Uniting this class under a common goal and shared similarity is definitely a good start to forming a strong bond within our class." Yaoyorozu, despite having her own desire to win and prove herself during this festival, also liked the esper's attempt to create smooth relationships between the class. "Your line of thinking, while it may not directly apply to this festival, is undoubtedly important."

"Well..." As expected, the bowl-haired esper's cheeks lightly blushed at the praise he received. "I just don't like seeing so much hostility." The other teenagers definitely saw where he was coming from: the competition and desire to win were very strong motivators, but they could also create very large rifts if the students took it too far.

With that out of the way, the class walked in silence towards the exit. As they were pacing outward, many of them were beginning to feel butterflies growing in their stomach. Outside, there were thousands upon thousands of spectators waiting for them, eager to see how they would perform and what they could do. Not only that, but several heroes would be scouting, picking out fresh talents. For many of the students, especially Kageyama and Midoriya, this was a very big pressure and way out of their comfort zone. But for the two training partners, both of them knew that they couldn't afford to let their nervousness get the better of them. All Might had explicitly put his faith and trust in both of them to do the best they could during this festival.

"I won't let you down, All Might." These were the thoughts running through the minds of Shigeo and Izuku as they both passed through the open entrance and got a good view of the enormous crowd cheering for all of the students of U.A. High.

Once Kageyama and Midoriya saw the crowd in-person, the butterflies in their stomach began to fly faster. Serving as the announcer with his boisterous persona and loud voice was Present Mic, the energy which with he was speaking serving to invigorate the crowd.

"Welcome back, everyone, to the U.A. Sports festival, where the students are all ready to put everything they have on the field in a massive all-out brawl! This first group are no strangers to the spotlight! You know them as the students who defended themselves against a villain attack! The hero students of Class 1-A!" The crowd's cheers only became more massive as the students from Class 1-A came into view.

"So many people watching us," muttered Kageyama.

"Well, heroes often have to deal with spectators and their acts of justice being televised, so we should begin to adjust to this attention," replied Iida.

Kirishima took note of the very dramatic and grandiose manner in which Present Mic was announcing their arrival. "Man, Present Mic's really talking our class up, and it's kinda making me nervous if we can really live up to all this hype surrounding us. Bakugo, you don't seem really nervous about this."

The blonde-haired teenager was one who reveled in the attention and praise of the public, his red eyes burning with excitement. "Nope. It just makes me even more pumped to win this thing."

While Class 1-A was making their entrance, Present Mic continued announcing the other classes entering from the tunnels. "Though they haven't received as much attention, this class is still brimming with talented young students! Welcome hero course Class 1-B to the arena! Up next, General Studies, Classes C, D, and E! Support Classes F, G, and H! And finally, Businesses Classes I, J, and K! Give it up for all of these first-year contestants!"

The uproar continued, though many of the students in the non-hero classes could tell that this applause wasn't directed towards them, it was directed towards the students with the most talent, the ones who could put on a good show and entertain the crowd.

All of the students from the different classes were now all bunched together in the center of the arena. Standing on a podium with a small rubber whip was the hero Midnight wasa gorgeous heroine at U.A. High whose charm and revealing outfit managed to get her very popular with male citizens. In the spectator's crowd, the males were all enthralled with Midnight, their cheeks lightly blushing in attraction. The students weren't as attracted to the teacher's revealing outfit, their cheeks blushing in embarrassment.

"Someone really needs to talk to Ms. Midnight about her clothes," Kirishima said.

"Her costume needs to come with a warning," added Kaminari.

"Is that costume really appropriate for school activities?" asked Tokoyami. While these male students were flustered with Midnight's clothing, Mineta was absolutely digging the teacher's dominatrix clothing, giving a very big thumbs up of approval.

"Welcome all!" The dominatrix raised her whip into the air. "Before we begin the festival, we have the introductory speech, given by Shigeo Kageyama!"

"Kageyama?" All of the students of Class 1-A turned their heads toward the esper, whose face was now blood red.

"He's the first year-rep?" Midoriya exclaimed.

Mob's brain was too shaken to think properly, his breath catching in his throat as his heart stopped beating. This was the last thing he was expecting or wanted. He had to give a speech? To everyone in the stadium, which consisted of thousands and thousands of people, not to mention all the other people in the world watching this live? He couldn't even muster the courage to talk to his middle school after days of preparation! How was he supposed to say something on the spot in front of an entire arena? He didn't know what to say, what could possibly be potent or powerful enough to reach so many people! This was something that Iida would be great at, not him!

_61%_

While the esper had absolutely no faith in his public speaking abilities, several of his classmates believed this would be a very easy task for Mob.

"Come on, don't be nervous! You're great at this!" The red-haired teenager gave him a reaffirming slap on the back. "Just go up there and say something cool like you did in the waiting room!"

"Maybe you can even give us some good rep for the other classes!" added Kaminari.

Tokoyami attempted to give his words of encouragement, for he also thought of the esper very highly after seeing his humility and lack of aggression. "Stand proud and tall, Kageyama. You have no need to fear this."

"With your modest nature, I'm confident you will think of a meaningful message to give." Yaoyorozu was also one of the ones beside him who was attempting to put the esper at ease. Midoriya put his hand on Shigeo's shoulder and gave him a smile of confidence.

"You can do this, Kageyama!"

Still too flustered to form a voice, the esper could barely form the smallest smile and the shortest nods to his classmates before he made his way to the podium. His entire body felt like concrete, and every step that got him closer to the microphone only made his heart race even more. While Kageyama was going up to the podium, many of the students began whispering amongst themselves.

"Whoa, that's Shigeo Kageyama?"

"I heard about him! He got first on the entrance exam with a crazy high score!"

"Pfft." One of the girls from the general studies course merely scoffed, annoyed by all the glory the hero course was receiving. "Yea, only for the hero course exam." The students from Class 1-A overheard these comments and began to get headaches. This was the hate their class was receiving, probably partly fueled thanks to Bakugo. But it would please them to know that not all the students shared the same mindset.

"Huh. He wasn't what I was expecting him to look like. He looks kinda... plain."

"I actually heard from some of our classmates that he tried to defend the students who weren't from the hero course the other day when another guy from Class 1-A tried to bash them."

"He did?"

"You'd think a guy like that would be all arrogant and self-righteous, but he doesn't seem to be that kinda person."

"Maybe Class 1-A isn't as self-absorbed as we thought they were."

"Who knows?"

Many of the students of Class 1-A felt their spirits lifted. Kageyama was actually managing to salvage some of their reputation. Maybe this speech was the chance their class had to recover their lost standing with the rest of the school.

Shigeo Kageyama was now standing at the center of the podium, facing all of the students from all the different classes. Every single pair of eyes was focused on the esper. Sitting with the rest of the U.A. High faculty up, the symbol of peace gently bit his lip, waiting in anticipation to see what Kageyama would say to this crowd and to all of the people. This was a very big moment for the esper: not only was he being forced to confront his weakness of public speaking, but what he said would essentially serve as the stamp on his public image, how the world would view the esper's personality and his ideals. So what was Kageyama going to say?

On the podium, Kageyama's mind was going into overdrive, the adrenaline causing multiple thoughts and multiple emotions to go racing through him while he remained silent. Kageyama looked at the crowd of students, and noticed many of his classmates smiling at him and giving them a thumbs-up. All of them were cheering him on, giving him their confidence.

_68%_

He couldn't blow it this time! Last time, he'd let himself and his embarrassment get the best of him, and he'd ended up looking like an idiot! If he simply stood there and said nothing now, he'd end up looking like an idiot to the school, the country and maybe the entire world! So he had to step up! He'd changed from that first speech he gave! He had to overcome this!

But what could he say? Kirishima had said that he was great at giving these speeches, to go up on the podium and simply say what he usually said! But what did he usually say? Kageyama's first focus was determining what made everyone admire his speeches, what he did and said that impressed his classmates to see if he could somehow replicate it now.

Well, whenever he was talking to the class, it was usually to try and tell them his point of view, simply express his thoughts and opinions. When he did that, his mind was only focused on delivering his message, as if the presence of the multiple people wasn't there. All that mattered to him was getting through to all the people he was speaking to.

As he looked at the crowd of students, besides his fellow classmates from Class 1-A, he noticed the classmates from the general studies courses and other courses barring the hero course. He noticed the way several of them looked annoyed, irritated. Kageyama could partly see why: all of the attention was being pointed at their class and the hero courses. Then he noticed the purple-haired student who'd confronted their class the other day. He'd really wanted to get into the hero course, but simply didn't get the chance. That didn't mean his passion or presence should be ignored, and the same applied for any of the other students there! They all made it to U.A. after all! That in-and-of-itself was proof of their worth!

"U.A. High... is a pla-place with very hi-high standards." After a seven-second silence, the esper decided to try and do what he'd always done and speak his mind rather than say something scripted and dispassionate like he did for the class president election, and it turned out he actually managed to spew some words out of his mouth. His voice was shaky, his face was still blushing, and his body was lightly trembling, all selling the image of a child with low confidence, but he still had something started. That alone was a milestone for the esper, and he felt his heart do a very tiny flip. Now he just had to keep going!

"...99% of the people who apply don't get in. But-but every student in every class standing in this arena made it here, all... all driven by their dreams and goals for the future, and... they should-should all feel proud that they're standing here right now." As he continued to speak, for some reason, the esper felt like it was getting easier, that he could talk more clearly and concisely. He couldn't explain it, but he began to slowly feel the tension beginning to fade away, the redness in his cheeks nominally subside. He was still feeling a great deal of pressure, but by simply talking and expressing himself, he felt as though it made this less of a burden.

For a split second, Shinso swore that he and Kageyama made eye contact, as if what the esper was about to say was being directed towards him. "For a lot of students here... they've put in their best effort in preparation for this day. This Sp-sp-Sports Festival is their chance to fu-fulfill their dreams, make large strides toward their goals. So... I truly hope that every student here gets the chance to make the most out of this festival... and show everyone the... the results of their hard work. Th-Thank you."

The crowd of students began a rapid onslaught of applause. Many of the students of Class 1-A were clapping as loud as possible, shouting Kageyama's name with their hearts bursting with joy. The students from the other courses were likewise impressed with the esper's words: while his speech may have been viewed as fake, many of them could see that Kageyama had truly put his heart into it. Even Shinso, who'd said to Kageyama that he wasn't exempt from his declaration of war, gave a few small, soft claps of approval. There was no cynicism or mockery in his words, he could tell. Some of the students, such as Bakugo and Todoroki, remained silent and composed, unimpressed with Mob's words and refusing to clap in praise, and a few of the students from the other courses were also unimpressed, finding the esper's words to be more focused toward those in the hero course and still choosing to view him as the high-and-mighty student standing atop all of them.

The spectators in the crowd all burst into a mad frenzy of cheering. The teachers of U.A. also gave their respect through applause, though All Might's clapping was by far the loudest in the room, and his smile the widest.

"That's the way, Kageyama!" said All Might. Despite a rough start, he still managed to push through and give a compelling, heart-felt message for all of the first-year students.

On the podium, Kageyama was utterly overwhelmed by this onslaught of applause. His mind was mixed in with so many different emotions, the primary ones being shock and relief that it was finally over and he'd managed to actually put some words together in a coherent manner. The blush on his face was still a deep red, and that red only became more deep when Midnight spoke to Kageyama with a lecherous look in her eyes and a sly grin on her face.

"You know, you're kind of cute when you're embarrassed," Midnight said with a tone that caused the esper to actually yelp with disconcertion, "Now go join the rest of your class. Good speech."

The esper did as the dominatrix asked and stepped down from the podium. Once he stepped down and got on the level of everyone else, he only became more flustered by the applause, the smiles on everyone's faces, and the esper couldn't help but smile back. The students of Class 1-A all gathered around him: Kirishima wrapped his arm around the esper's shoulder and shook him with high energy.

"THAT'S what I'm talkin' about! You killed it like I said you would!" Kirishima said.

"I think you might've saved our class's reputation! Awesome job!" added Kaminari.

"You really spoke to all of the students and gave them a sense of motivation," Tsu remarked, "Good going."

"Remarkable words as always," said Yaoyorozu.

"I'm just relieved that I managed to actually say something up there," muttered Kageyama, wiping his forehead in relief.

"Yea, you were sweating like a pig," Sero said, "But you still nailed it."

"OK then!" Midnight's voice rang through the stadium, and all of the students refocused their attention towards the female hero. "Without further ado, it's time to get things started! The first fateful game of the festival-" A monitor screen appeared behind Midnight, showing a large spinning machine. The spinning machine ran for a few seconds, and then landed on the "obstacle race" option.

"So this'll be an obstacle course," muttered Midoriya.

"All eleven classes will participate in this treacherous contest. The track is four miles long and loops around the stadium." The curvaceous hero cracked her whip. "I have no desire to restrain anyone in this game," she said, licking her lips with a sadistic smile.

"As long as you remain in the obstacle course, feel free to do whatever you wish!" With the explanation of this first phase of the sports festival finished, the classes all crowded around a large red gate with three lights at the top. With everyone ready to go, the three lights glowed green, and one-by-one, the lights flickered off as a sign of the countdown. Almost all of the students were feeling their stomachs twisting in knots, for it was only seconds before this race begun.

Standing in the crowd, each of them in their own worlds, Izuku and Shigeo stood crouched and ready to sprint. Both of them were remembering All Might's words, how they were to introduce themselves to the world and proudly state they were there. Izuku, though, knew he was still at a disadvantage: he couldn't control One For All yet, meaning he had to be careful to choose when he'd use it, so he'd have to go beyond.

"I hope you're watching, All Might!"

The final light flickered out, and the dominatrix hero threw her hand down.

"BEGIN!"

All of the students began a quick and hectic frenzy through the gate, determined to get as much of a head start as possible.

In the top, the announcer Present Mic did his job. "And we're off to a racing start! How 'bout some colored commentary, mummy man? What should we be paying attention to in the early stages of the race?"

The answer to that question was much more obvious than one might imagine. "The doorway."

Unfortunately for the students, the passageway into the obstacle course wasn't nearly large enough for all of the students to fit through at the same time. It was like a den of pigs, all squirming and writhing as they tried to get out. For many of the students, it was proving to be a very challenging first part of the obstacle course. For a certain bowl-haired esper, however, he found that the solution to this was quite simple.

His body glowed light blue, and he began to float in the air. As determined as many students in Class 1-A were to beat Shigeo in this sports festival and in this obstacle course, they were quickly about to realize that this was going to be a much more impossible task than they'd imagined, especially when he was fighting to win like everyone else.

In the passageway, the esper disappeared from sight. A powerful sonic boom reverberated through the passageway, standing up the hair of many students. For the few competitors who looked up, all they could see was a light blue blur speeding past them. For many of the students of Class 1-A, it wasn't hard to figure out who that was.

"Damn it." Todoroki clenched his hands and his teeth in frustration. He never imagined that Kageyama could fly at such incredible speed! He thought that the large crowd would give Todoroki an advantage, a head start over the esper, but he was wrong. Not only that, but his ability of flight gave him significant maneuverability and would likely allow him to overtake the obstacles they were to face. With that kind of speed and maneuverability, there was no way Todoroki would be able to catch up to him, bridge the gap in distance.

As expected, Bakugo saw this brief blur and screamed out in absolute anger, coming to the same realizations as Todoroki.

"NO! GET BACK HERE, YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

Midoriya saw this display of speed and was left baffled. This was the level of power Kageyama was at, a level that far exceeded anything their classmates were at and gave him abilities none of them could hope to match yet. As All Might said, he was already near the level of the Symbol of Peace.

Blitzing through the air like a speeding bullet, the esper took one somber and regretful look at the students who were all attempting to claw their way to the exit. "I'm sorry, you guys. All Might's counting on me to show what I can do, and I just can't let him down. Midoriya, I wish the two of us could place first, but sadly, as Todoroki said, there can only be one winner. I hope you'll manage to get second place, though: I'm sure you'll think of something." The esper's fuel that drove him to take this seriously was All Might's words and everything he'd done to help him through his struggles. Not living up to All Might's expectations would be an insult to him and everything he'd done for Mob, and the esper wouldn't allow that. So he had to proudly declare "I am here!" through a definite victory!

_71%_

These thoughts ran through the esper's mind in the blink of an eye, and in that same amount of time, he'd already made it to the next obstacle in this race through speed that far surpassed sound. He wasn't using his full power, but he was using more than half of it, and that was something no other student in U.A. could currently go up against.

"And with lightning-fast speed, Shigeo Kageyama pulls to first place and reaches the first obstacle!" In the stadium, many of the spectators almost found it hard to accept what they'd just seen: Kageyama had gone so fast, it looked like he'd teleported. Well, if they found that hard to believe, they'd find the esper's next feat to be downright impossible.

The esper stopped when he saw an army of robots standing in his way and floated back to the ground.

"I recognize these robots..." A blast from the past, U.A. High had decided to do a repeat of their entrance exam and placed a great number of the robots to block the path of the students. There were several dozen of the regular-sized robots of the one-to-three-point range, but towering behind them were at least nine of the zero-point robots. Kageyama was surprised that they'd managed to get so many of those zero-point robots ready for this festival. However, these robots posed absolutely no threat to Mob.

"Let's see how this talented young hero-in-training fares in this robo-inferno!"

"I shouldn't waste my time trying to fight these things. I'll just move them out of my way." The esper's aura once again flared to life, and suddenly, the robots began to float. In a jaw-dropping display of power, not only were all of the regular sized robots being lifted up, but the building-sized machines were also being lifted up several meters into the air.

In the stadium, the crowd felt as though they were seeing some sort of illusion. How could this be real? How could a child lift objects the size of buildings like that?

"Ha-ha-ha!" The symbol of peace howled with amusement and delight. Kageyama certainly wasn't afraid to show what he could do when the time called for it. That would definitely turn the heads of everyone in the arena. A few of the other teachers, though, were displaying a much more awed reaction. Present Mic did his best to capture the magnitude of what the crowd was witnessing.

"Can you believe what you're seeing, folks! Kageyama passes through this army of robots and lifts them all into the air like he's lifting old newspapers! This contestant is definitely someone we should all keep our attention on! Looks like this kid didn't get first in the entrance exam for nothing!"

"What raw power..." Aizawa was in a state of awe like the rest of the faculty by the level of power being displayed. What was perhaps more unnerving was that even as the esper sprinted under the robots, who were trying to reach the esper with their gargantuan hands, at a regular speed with his hand still outstretched, his face remained as stoic and neutral as always, as if this was just child's play. Hell, it probably was for Kageyama: it frightened Aizawa to know how much more he could lift if he was serious like he was during the U.S.J.

The esper had already finished his quick run underneath the robots. Lifting so many heavy objects at the same time was not something he did very often, and Kageyama felt a very, very light strain maintaining all of the robots in the air with about two-thirds of his psychic energy, though at full-power, he could lift fifty times the weight with no strain whatsoever. As he made it to the other side and past the robots, he dropped his hand, thus dropping the robots. The height that Kageyama had lifted them was not too much, though a great deal of them sustained some damage and had some of their mobility hindered. Mob had considered lifting them high enough so that their fall would leave them beyond functionality and the other students could get by easier, but also knew that his classmates were extremely strong and could probably handle even the larger robots. Besides, this was the time for them to show off their quirks: getting rid of an entire obstacle of this race would deprive them of that chance, so he left the robots be.

Now that the robots were out of the way, the esper activated his psychic power once again, though he decided to stay on the ground this time. Actually, the esper's foot speed was faster than his flight speed, since he was sending his psychic energy through his already-toned leg muscles, giving him a boost in speed that left sound behind in it's wake. With this phenomenal speed, it only took less than two seconds for the esper to reach his next obstacle. It was a very large ravine with multiple rocks, which seemed to serve as stepping stones for the contestants to make it to the other side. In addition, there were many ropes that were connected to all of the rocks, which would give the contestants an easier time getting across. Mob made a quick decision to make a very small jump across the ravine, though with the power coursing through his leg muscles, he overshot his landing point, and instead of landing on the other side of the ravine, managed to get so far up ahead that he accidentally landed directly on the final obstacle.

The esper was doing things at such a fast rate that the spectators barely had any time to even process what was happening.

"That kid, he's unbelievably fast."

"He's like a human torpedo!"

"Just who in the hell is this Shigeo Kageyama?"

"He's an absolute monster!"

"I think every hero agency in Japan's gonna fight to the death to decide who gets this kid as a sidekick!"

Likewise, Present Mic couldn't even properly narrate what was happening with how fast Kageyama was going, and was just about to prepare to announce the large ravine obstacle and ask how Kageyama would deal with it, when instead, the cameras focused on a very large boom and pink smoke. It was a land mine filled with a non-deadly but still damaging smoke substance that would deal damage if any students stepped on them.

"What's this? Shigeo Kageyama, the speeding bullet, somehow managed to overcome the second obstacle and had landed himself straight in the third and final obstacle! Will he continue this absolutely crazy lead?"

Every spectator in the audience glued their eyes to the screens to see what would happen next, if the esper had managed to sustain some damage. But when they looked at the screen, all they saw was the smoke fanned away from some gusts of air, and before they knew it, Kageyama was running through the gate. It didn't take long for the esper to figure out that he'd accidentally landed on a mine field, though the mines didn't possess the power to hurt him. He could probably walk through the entire field without getting a single scratch, but he decided to do the easiest thing and activate his flight. And with his speed, it took him less than a second to reach the gate. In fact, he'd gotten through the obstacle course at such an unbelievable speed that by the time he made it end, the students had only just gotten out of the starting gate.

"Th-this is jaw-dropping, ladies and gentlemen! In less than a mind-blowing, world-shattering twenty seconds, Shigeo Kageyama has taken first place and established himself as the indisputable champion of the first trial! It's absolutely unfair what the rest of the students are up against here! Who can keep up with a living bullet like him?"

In the teacher's box, all of the teachers got out of their seats and fervently applauded the young esper, with All Might being the loudest and the most excited. Even he could have never imagined that Kageyama would shine with such an overwhelming brightness. Even if the esper didn't win the sports festival, this first round had already done more than enough to cement Kageyama as a rising hero.

"Didn't think it would be over so soon. I think I overdid it." Standing in the center of the arena, the bowl-haired esper took in all of this praise and applause with only minimal pride or joy. He didn't really care about whether or not he'd gotten in first place or what the spectators thought of his power: all he cared about was fulfilling the goals All Might had set for him. He also began to feel a sense of nausea: he still wasn't very used to using his telekinesis to fly at such fast speeds. Usually, when he was at full power, this weakness didn't really affect him, but now, he could feel his senses knocked slightly off-balance.

The esper's eyes shot through the stadium, trying to find where the hero might be, and when he found him, he was relieved to see the number one hero not only applauding, but heartily laughing with a smile that was reaching up to his chin.

The esper's neutral expression changed to a proud one. He'd done what All Might had said he should set out to do, and he did it just like he wanted. That alone meant much more than the fact that he won.

_76%_

"This is a competition where everyone aims for the top," thought All Might, "Even though that means defeating your friends and classmates. To be honest, I thought that you wouldn't be able to go through with it, that you'd just let someone else take the lead, but you proved me wrong!"

While All Might was internalizing these thoughts, there were a few students standing among the crowd who were taking Kageyama's victory in with burgeoning interest, for they were part of the business course, and this sports festival was their opportunity to measure the potential for all the competitors in the future hero market.

"I think it's abundantly clear that Kageyama's stock is about to skyrocket."

"Abundantly, yes. I don't think it would be too much of a stretch to say that every hero agency in Japan will be hunting him."

"Still, he doesn't exude confidence. You saw the way he paused during his introductory speech. And appearance-wise, he's also rather plain looking."

"Those factors are practically irrelevant in the face of his overwhelming power."

The business course students continued to debate how much Kageyama's stock would be worth, while All Might listened in with a cheeky grin on his face. Some things never changed.

The esper didn't bask in the glory of his victory: while he did what All Might had said to do, he still felt guilty for leaving all of his classmates in the dust with such an inconceivably large lead. They deserved their chance to shine, too, and he hoped that they'd get their chance to prove their worth as he said in their speech. But there was a key factor in the esper's victory that he hadn't accounted for, that could potentially hurt his classmates: Mob had done so unbelievably good, performed at a level so far above everyone else, that now, anything the other students did wouldn't hold nearly as much weight in comparison. All the spectators would be thinking about was how incredible Kageyama's performance was, comparing the rest of the competitors to the esper's performance. So while the spectators would continue to watch the rest of the festival, their expectations were now set too high for any of the other students to meet.

Having finished so quickly, the bowl-haired student stood in the stadium silently, staring at the gate to see the next person who'd come out of that gate. So who would take second place? Would it be Midoriya, as he was desperately hoping it would be?

Shigeo was correct: even without using his quirk, Midoriya was able to use his wits to find a way to overtake the other two leaders, Todoroki and Bakugo. As the green-haired teenager made it through the gate, he was overcome by personal joy and pride in everything he accomplished. Against all the odds, against more experienced and more powerful students, the fanboy had actually persevered and defeated them. As he heard the crowd cheer, he looked around, taking the setting in and coming to terms with his victory. He'd done just as All Might had said. As he looked through the stadium, he found the symbol of peace standing with the other heroes and applauding the teenager. He saw the number one hero beaming with pride, and it couldn't help but cause Izuku to beam as well. He was overtaken with emotion, and began to form tears in his eyes, the weight of his victory too much to contain.

He was so proud, however, that he had completely forgotten about Kageyama, the fact that he didn't get first place, and had to be reminded by Present Mic.

"The second one to make it back to the stadium is Izuku Midoriya!"

"Midoriya!" The esper had gotten rather bored waiting for the rest of the students to come, and was relieved to see that his friend and training partner had gotten second place just as he'd hoped he would. As Mob approached Izuku, the green-eyed teenager wiped the tears away from his eyes. "You got second place! Amazing! I knew you'd pull it off!"

"And you got first. That's pretty amazing, too." Even after overcoming both Bakugo and Todoroki, he was still woefully outclassed by Kageyama. Furthermore, he'd only won through experimentation, making gambles that could have easily gone the wrong way, while Shigeo won through pure power. And by how much did the esper win? How big was the gap between them?

Observing the two interacting with each other from afar, Todoroki felt a tick in his brain. As he expected, Kageyama had gotten first place and made it to the finish line far before any of them, and then there was Midoriya, who managed to get the edge over him without even using his quirk. This had turned out worse than he'd anticipated.

Likewise, Bakugo was seething with anger and frustration. After that all-out sprint, he was catching his breath by himself and caught a glimpse of Midoriya and Kageyama talking with each other. He grabbed his forearm and began to tremble.

"Deku, the bowl-cut, not again..." As much as he wanted to deny it, Bakugo had once again lost to the same people he swore he'd defeat, with Todoroki to add onto the pile of shame. What made it worse with Kageyama was that he couldn't even do anything to stop him: he was just helpless to watch as he flew on ahead.

"Deku, that was awesome!" Uraraka, close to passing out from exhaustion, ran towards the two teenagers and congratulated Midoriya for his second-place victory. "You got second place! And Kageyama, you got first by a huge margin! I'm so jealous!"

"Oh, don't be, Uraraka."

Midoriya internally disagreed with the young esper, twitching his fingers ever-so-slightly. It made sense to be a LITTLE jealous of Kageyama with the awesome power he had and the way he got first place.

The rest of the students quickly came one after the other. After a few minutes, all of the contestants had finished the obstacle course, though almost all of the teenagers were completely exhausted. As things settled down and the classmates began to converse with one another, one of the the main topics that they couldn't help but focus on was Kageyama's performance. The students were all wrapping their heads around the fact that the esper could move at such speeds, fly so fast that the eyes couldn't follow. Even those in Class 1-A were talking about him, the fearsome abilities he possessed. Through every challenge and every competition, it was becoming more and more clear to them how powerful Kageyama was, how he stood as the strongest in the class and the entire grade.

With the obstacle course over, all of the students gathered back at the podium, where Midnight was waiting.

"The first game for the first years is finally over, and what an exciting event it was! Before we start the second phase, let's take a quick look at the standing, shall we?"

A screen appeared behind Midnight with the order of the victors, and Kageyama appeared on the number one spot. Many of the top spots went to Class 1-A, although a good number of the top spots also belonged to Class 1-B, proving that they weren't simply hacks and they could hold their own.

"Only the top 42 will advance to the next round, though don't get too down if you didn't make the cuts. There'll be plenty of opportunities for you to shine," Midnight said, licking her lips again in erotic delight. "Now the real fun's going to begin. The chance where you'll fully move yourselves into the limelight, to give it your best."

Midnight cracked her whip, and the large slot machine appeared again to decide the second phase. "Let's see what's in store for you next! Will your wildest fantasies come to life? What could it be? The waiting is torture! Prepare yourselves for this!"

The slot machine stopped on "Cavalry Battle". Upon seeing this, Kaminari's brows furrowed in concern.

"Cavalry battle? I suck at those."

"I wonder how they're gonna pair us up, since it's not an individual event," Tsu questioned.

Midnight was ready to explain all the details of the game. "Allow me to explain: the participants will form teams of two to four people as they see fit. In a sense, it's the same as a regular playground game. However, there is a significant difference: each player has been assigned a point value based on their ranking in the obstacle course."

Uraraka built off of what the teacher was saying. "That means each team's gonna have a different point value based on which students are on it." Ashido, who was standing next to her, pointed her fingers to compliment her assessment. Midnight, however, took anger in being interrupted, and cracked her whip.

"Maybe shut up and let me explain the rules!" The monitor screen changed to show the number of points going to each contestant. "Now then, the point assignments go up by increments of five, starting from the lowest spot. For instance, 42nd place is worth five, and 41st is worth ten. And the number of points first place is assigned: ten million!"

Kageyama broke out in a cold sweat. Did he hear that right? Ten million? The reaction of this revelation among the crowd of students differed: they were all baffled by how many points Kageyama was worth, sure, but what they'd choose to do with that varied. On one hand, it made Kageyama a very big target that everyone would be going for to ensure victory. On the other hand, it actually made Kageyama an extremely desirable partner. They'd all seen his incredible speed, and the students of Class 1-A watched his performance in the battle trial, the quirk apprehension test, and for a few, the U.S.J. Someone as strong as him would be the perfect way to guarantee victory by keeping his headband.

Regardless of this, the esper still felt a great deal of pressure being put on him, unsure of how this would play out.

Midnight saw the way Mob broke in a cold sweat, and her sadistic side flared up. "That's right: it's survival of the fittest, where those at the bottom will have the chance to overthrow the top." Whatever was going to happen, however the students decided to use this information they'd received on Kageyama, it could not be denied that the Cavalry Battle would be an undoubtedly dramatic battle, and the audience was hungry to see it.

* * *

**As expected, Mob absolutely dominates! This is me sort of ranting, but the counter is a representation of how much energy he's using. It's not a countdown of his emotional state, though there're a few things that are unclear that kinda annoy me. For instance, it seems like he has a certain degree of control over how much energy he releases, given when he increases the counter whenever he's fighting, such as with Mogami in their first encounter, though it seems he's not very precise with it. Furthermore, it doesn't seem like he can decrease his power once it reaches a certain level, and he has to wait until a 100% explosion to reset the counter. Besides, in all his battles, he'd either won with 100% or just in his base. In all his battles, such as Koyama, Tsuchiya, and Suzuki, he never increased his counter to try and match the power of his enemy, and even when it did happen, no significant change in the battle occurred except when 100% was reached. He's never needed to really dial back his power or increase it enough to get an edge over the enemy, and when he did increase it, there never appeared to be a significant change in destructive potential, though that's just my take of it. **

**Regarding Mob choosing to take first place, it might seem slightly OOC, though I still think it makes sense that he'd want to win for All Might after giving him a home and guidance for almost a year. Hope you guys enjoyed the speech Mob gave, cuz that was my favorite part. Anyway, the Cavalry Battle will commence next chapter!**


	17. Unbreakable

**After nearly a month of waiting, Chapter 17 is finally up! After Mob's stunning performance in the obstacle course, we're now going to see what kind of performance he's going to give during the cavalry battle, what kind of team the others are going to have to go up against!**

* * *

The audience grew restless and excited when they heard Kageyama would be worth ten million, for they knew this would only make the Cavalry Battle more thrilling. There was still more that needed to be explained before the event officially started, however.

"Alright, here are the rules that all the teams will follow." The screen changed images to correlate with the rules that Midnight was about to describe. "The game itself will last fifteen minutes. The individual point values of each team member will be combined and printed on headbands which all the riders will wear. Try to swipe as many headbands as possible to ensure victory. Stolen headbands must be worn from the neck-up, meaning that the more you steal, the more difficult it will be to keep them all on. Also, an important thing to know is that even if you lose your headband or your team falls down, you are still allowed to keep playing until time runs out!"

Several of the students did a quick run-down of what they'd just heard and how it could possibly play out. "So that means it's anyones game then," said Yaoyorozu.

"And since there're forty two contestants, that means there'll be ten or twelve teams fighting at the same time," Sato remarked.

"So if you happen to lose your headband at the start, you'll get more time to come up with a plan," Ashido commented.

Tsu put her finger to her chin and glanced at Ashido with her brows slightly furrowed upward. "I'm not sure about that, Mina. Maybe it'd be better to see how the teams turn out before we start making strategies."

"This is going to be rough, so use your quirks as much as you please! However, there are still rules: make a team fall on purpose, and you'll be slapped with a red card and disqualification!" The monitor screen changed images to a countdown starting at fifteen minutes. "And now, you have fifteen minutes to create your teams, so get going!"

The countdown began to start, and the students all started talking amongst themselves, wondering how the best way to go about making teams would be. For this kind of event, they couldn't simply pick whoever they wanted. No, there needed to be some good, thought-out purpose behind the teams that were created, consisting of individuals who knew what each member was capable of and who could cooperate efficiently with one another, or simply consisting of individuals with extremely powerful quirks. In the case of the latter, almost all of the students in Class 1-A decided to rush towards Kageyama. But as all of the students began to swarm towards him, they realized that he already had his sights set on a teammate, and he was walking toward that teammate at that very moment.

Midoriya was busy in thought, wondering what the best team would consist of, but before he had the time to consider who would comprise this team, the green-haired teenager was approached by his bowl-haired friend.

"Midoriya, let's team up." As soon as he heard that they could choose their own teams, the esper instantly knew that his team would not be complete without his verdant-eyed friend, and made it his first objective to make him the first member. "I'm gonna need my friend beside me if I'm gonna make it through this cavalry battle."

The green-haired teenager's eyes lit up, for whole-heartedly agreed with Shigeo's statement. The two had done almost everything together for all those months of training, persevered through so much pain and surpassing every obstacle in their path. Here was the next obstacle, and Midoriya wouldn't want anyone else by his side to surpass it.

"Sure thing, Kageyama." The rest of the classmates decided to be respectful and wait for the two to finish their conversation, and now that the two of them had finished, they were all hounding the esper in an attempt to curry favor and convince him to let them join his team.

"Kageyama, pick me to be on your team!"

"No, I'm the one you want!"

"My quirk was made for this!"

There were more than twenty teenagers all trying to pitch themselves to the young esper, and some of them weren't even from Class 1-A. Quite frankly, Mob was overwhelmed. He wasn't quite sure what team would be the best for this second event, which classmates would ensure their victory. For this kind of strategizing, he would need Midoriya's advice.

"Midoriya and I need to talk first, so just hold on a sec." The classmates groaned in frustration but still respected Mob's wishes and waited for the two friends to form a strategy.

Mob's first line of thinking for choosing the teammates was which quirks would work best together to ensure they protect their ten million points. He still needed to advance to the next round to fulfill the expectations set by All Might, so forming the team with the most effective people was the best way to do that. "Well, Midoriya? Who do you think we should add to our team? Do you think we should choose based on our classmate's quirks?"

"To tell you the truth, I really don't think quirk compatibility matters." Mob looked at his friend as if he'd said something in another language. Of all people, Kageyama assumed that Izuku would be the one going through multiple analyzations of different team compositions, telling him some fancy plan while describing which teammates would play what part in that plan with their quirks.

"I've got a plan in mind that's so simple, it almost barely counts as a plan, and to make it work, it really doesn't matter what kind of quirks our teammates have."

"Really? What's the plan?"

"Keep defending." The fanboy had seen the esper's powers up-close, as well as the kind of unbelievable force his barriers could protect against. He was supremely confident that not a single person in this cavalry battle had the necessary strength to break through those barriers, giving them a very huge advantage.

"If you can maintain your barrier around us for fifteen minutes, then I'm positive that no one's gonna be able to take our headband." It wasn't like Midoriya to be so careless in his plan-making, but with Kageyama as a member, he couldn't help but feel their team was invulnerable, no matter what.

"Oh." Hearing this plan out-loud, Mob could see what Midoriya was talking about. His barriers could defend against a great deal of physical force and were only rarely broken by his enemies, and he was also sure that no one else was strong enough to break through them, not when he had more than two-thirds of his power coursing through him. "Yea, I see what you mean."

"I think that we should just choose our teammates based on how well we work with them, how well we can communicate with each other."

"If that's the case..." The bowl-haired teenager looked back at the group of students waiting impatiently for them to finish their strategizing, and noticed two students that he hadn't paid attention to before: Uraraka and Yaoyorozu. "How about we do a repeat of our teams during the battle trial?"

"Why not?" Uraraka was one of his closest friends, and Yaoyorozu, while he wasn't as close with her, was nevertheless a very impressive student who managed to get to this school through recommendations.

"Alright, we've made our decision." The two friends returned to the anxious teenagers, whose faces were all brightening up in the hopes that Kageyama had chosen them to be part of his team. "The other two members of our team are going to be Uraraka and Yaoyorozu."

Both girls beamed in delight, while the rest of the students began to sulk in disappointment. "Sorry, guys," said Kageyama, understanding how upsetting this must've been for them. However, many of the students quickly got over their depression and focused on their next best options. For a great number of the students, they decided to go convince Bakugo, while a few others went into small groups to converse among themselves, come up with strategies and decide who else would be on their team.

"Thanks for adding me onto your team, you two!" Uraraka said, "This is gonna go great! I'm teamed up with all the people I like!" All three of the other teammates couldn't help but feel their hearts inflate slightly at the affection and liveliness in Uraraka's voice.

"I'm also thankful that you decided to add me to your group," Yaoyorozu added with a smile on her face and her eyes on the esper.

"Y-yea, not a problem," Mob said, unable to keep a light blush off of his cheeks.

_78%_

Yaoyorozu also took note of the unique team composition. "It's rather ironic that this team is entirely comprised of teammates of the battle trial, but it does ensure for better cooperation."

"So what's the plan?" Uraraka said.

"Easy: Kageyama's gonna keep a barrier surrounding us for the entire cavalry battle while we keep running. Since his barriers are generated by his psychic powers, they'll definitely be strong enough to hold up against any enemy attacks. And since no one will be able to get our ten million points, we'll be the guaranteed winners. We could also use Uraraka's quirk to make ourselves lighter, and Yaoyorozu, you could use your quirk to make skates for us, giving us greater mobility. Kageyama's defense is still gonna be our main weapon, but this way, you two can still contribute something."

"I see..."

"Any thoughts? Objections?"

"None from me!" Uraraka exclaimed.

Yaoyorozu, on the other hand, while seeing the logic of the plan, was analyzing it for any potential weaknesses. "The plan appears very simple, yet effective to me. Kageyama, are you sure you can keep your barrier up for fifteen minutes?" The esper gave a firm nod of confirmation. "And what will we do if an enemy happens to immobilize us? What if Todoroki tries to use his ice to freeze us to the ground?"

"The only way they could immobilize us is if they could get through Kageyama's barrier. Todoroki's ice works by traveling across the ground: he can't summon it from underground, so the barrier will stop it. Besides, even if we are somehow immobilized, they still wouldn't be able to get through the barrier."

"I see..." Even after this explanation, the other three teammates could hear some doubt lingering in Momo's eyes. "Leaving almost everything in Kageyama's hands like this doesn't give us much chances to show off our quirks or prove our skills during this competition."

But as soon as it came, the brief moment of doubt vanished. "But this plan is still the best option we have at protecting the ten million points and ensuring our advancement to the third event, so I'll go along with it."

"Great! Then it's decided!" With their team and their plan now in-place, the four students of Class 1-A could do nothing but wait. As they were waiting, they couldn't help but take note of the many students who had decided to approach Bakugo. Midoriya could see why he'd be so swarmed: he'd proven his strength during the obstacle course, and his quirk was very versatile, so he'd make a great team member. The four could see each of the students trying to convince Bakugo just like they'd tried to convince Mob just moments ago, and they weren't quite sure how Bakugo would pick his teammates.

"Wait, remind me what your quirks are again? And your names?"

Upon hearing this, many of the students frowned at the hot-headed teenager, enraged that he hadn't even taken the effort to remember anything about them.

"Man, he doesn't even remember their names," Uraraka remarked, "They're our classmates."

"I know. It's upsetting to know how little he cares about his them," Shigeo replied

While Bakugo was deciding which team members would be the best fit for this challenge, Todoroki was still piecing together his own team. So far, he'd managed to convince both Iida and Kaminari to join his team. Iida's speed would give them a big boost, acting as the front wing, while Kaminari would serve as an offensive teammate who would use his quirk to keep enemies at bay. However, there was a fatal flaw in this plan that wasn't easy to remedy.

"So will you guys be able to handle my electricity?" asked Kaminari, "Cuz I can't really control the direction it goes. It just travels everywhere."

"Yes, I was wondering what kind of contingency you might've planned for that," inquired Iida.

Todoroki pinched his lips and held his arms across his chest in frustration. "I was planning on having Yaoyorozu join our team so she could use her quirk to create a layer of insulation that would protect us from your electricity. But she's already joined up with Kageyama and Midoriya, so that option's gone. Since there's no one else who can serve as insulation, that means we're just gonna have to suck up the pain."

"So be it. I'm willing to endure pain to ensure our victory. What's the saying? "No pain, no gain?""

"So who's gonna be our final member then?" Kaminari wondered.

The dual quirk-wielding teenager went over the possible options that would best serve as their fourth teammate. They were already set on the fronts of mobility and offense, which meant that their final member would have to be defensive. They would have to be someone who had quick reflexes to react to the enemies and create a powerful shield or defense on the spot. After a brief run-down of the possibilities, the young teenager decided the person best suited to take up this mantle, someone with a very powerful quirk that could serve as their shield.

"Tokoyami." The dual quirk-wielding teenager approached the avian student, who was standing quietly amongst another crowd of students, attempting to decide which team he should join. "I'd like to ask that you join our team. You'll be the final member whose quirk acts as our shield. Your Dark Shadow's power and versatility will be vital to the team."

"Come on Tokoyami!" The other two teammates appeared behind Todoroki, with Kaminari being as lively and energetic as always. "You'll be an awesome member! With the four of us, we're gonna kill this thing!"

The avian student saw no reason to object to Todoroki's proposal, and gave the cold teenager a nod of confirmation. "Very well. I accept your offer."

"Ok, since our team has finally finished, let me explain everybody's roles. Kaminari, you'll be the left wing, and you'll use your quirk to keep enemies at bay. Tokoyami, you'll be the right wing. Use your Dark Shadow to focus on defense. Iida, you'll take the front. We'll rely on you for mobility and physical defense."

"And you'll be attacking by creating diversions of ice and fire, correct?" Iida said.

"Not exactly." The cold teenager gazed up into the stands, where a man with a very large, imposing demeanor stood with flames spewing from his shoulders and most of his face. That man was Todoroki's father, the number two hero, Endeavor, for whom Todoroki held a deep animosity towards. "When I'm in battle, I never use my left side."

Slowly but surely, the other teams were beginning to form as well. One of those teams consisted of Mineta and Shoji: though Shoji had initially declined Mineta's offer to be partners, the short student's tactical strategy of keeping him covered with his huge tentacles to ensure nobody stole Mineta's headband had managed to convince Shoji to join forces. The two wondered if there was anyone else who could join their team, and realized the person with the next smallest build would likely serve them best, and in this case, that person was Tsu. After forming their team, the three of them were talking strategy for the cavalry battle.

"Going after Kageyama's going to be the most obvious yet most effective decision," said Shoji, "Since his team's going to be occupied with so many others, if we time it right, we can find an opening to exploit and steal his headband."

The large student was expecting both of his teammates to wholeheartedly agree with his plan, which was why he was surprised when both of them shook their heads in disapproval. "It's not worth the effort. Right, Tsu?"

"If Kageyama keeps his barrier up, there's no way we're gonna be able to break through it, no matter what we do. We should just try and focus on the others instead."

"Really? Just throwing away the ten million points like that seems rather reckless. Are you sure about this?" asked Shoji, wondering how they could've been so dismissive of taking the most obvious target.

"Trust us: we saw what those barriers could handle in-person," the frog-like girl replied, "It's a pointless effort." These two had a clear understanding of the unbeatable opponent Shigeo Kageyama was, the ridiculously high level that the esper was at in comparison to every other student in the area, and soon enough, all of the students were going to be aware of this.

The time seemed to pass by very quickly as the teams were being made, and before the contestants knew it, the fifteen minute time limit for creating the teams had finished.

"Alright! Now things can finally get started!" Midnight stretched her arms in anticipation. Up in the stands, the unkempt hero had fallen asleep out of both boredom and fatigue, and his fellow announcer had to wake him up to announce.

"Now that the students have had their fifteen minutes to strategize and form partnerships, there're now twelve teams standing in the ring. Now everyone, get your hands in the air! It's time for a blood-pumping battle royale! Let me hear you scream!" The crowd roared in excitement, all of them wondering how this would turn out, and more importantly, what kind of amazing performance Kageyama would show them. In the arena, all of the first-year students were standing at the edge of the arena, many of them eyeing the ten million points while Mob looked on with nominal unease.

"Alright, all you first years!," boomed Present Mic, "I hope you're happy with the teams you've chosen, cuz it's about to go down! Let's begin the final countdown! 3! 2! 1!"

The dominatrix hero swung her whip down, signaling the start of the cavalry battle. "Begin!"

As expected, all of the teams began a mad dash toward the ten million points. The number one team, however, remained calm and composed, for they had their main weapon that was almost unstoppable.

"Do it, Kageyama!" said Yaoyorozu.

"Right." The bowl-haired esper did his job and erected a barrier around the four of them. For those in the other classes, this was quite a shocking discovery. Having seen most of their powers up-close, many of them assumed that this was Midoriya's quirk, since he didn't use his power during the obstacle course. Many spectators also assumed this was Midoriya's doing, as well as a few of the teachers who hadn't seen Kageyama's abilities outside of the Entrance Exam.

"And a barrier is put up by..." Present Mic likewise momentarily struggled to figure out whether the barrier was put up by Kageyama or Midoriya, so Aizawa answered the question for the spectators and the other students.

"By Kageyama."

Upon hearing this, both the students and the crowd only grew more shocked, more restless at what this young teenager was capable of.

"His power lets him make barriers too?" said a spectator.

"As if he didn't already have enough going for him with his super speed and telekinesis."

In the battle arena, the teams who weren't part of Class 1-A were equally baffled by Eraserhead's proclamation, not expecting that the esper would have another facet to his abilities. For a great number of them, including those in Class 1-A, they were unsure of how they were going to get the headband, for none of them were sure how powerful his barrier was. This was what Kageyama's team was counting on to secure their victory. Alas, there was one team who actually had the means to do something about that barrier.

"Don't think your safe just cuz you're in a barrier!" yelled Tetsutetsu, "Honenuki! Do it!"

The members of Kageyama's team gave each other uneasy looks, unpleased by how relaxed Tetsutetsu's team was about the esper's protection. Suddenly, they began to feel themselves sink.

"What's happening?" said Uraraka.

"We're sinking!" said Midoriya, "It must be that guy's quirk!"

"It appears we underestimated the potency of our enemies' quirks, and it seems like one managed to bypass Kageyama's barrier," Yaoyorozu remarked.

"So what do we do?" the bob-haired girl asked.

"Don't worry, guys." Though this may have seemed like a big issue, with the four students slowly sinking into the ground like victims in quicksand, this was actually not a very large problem for the esper thanks to his telekinesis. "I can pull us all out of here no problem."

A light blue aura enveloped all four classmates, and as soon as it did, the barrier disappeared. The green-haired fanboy took note of this as they were pulled out of the quicksand. "Kageyama, keep the barrier. Don't give the others any openings."

"Sorry, I can't do that," replied the esper as they momentarily soared through the air. "I can't do two things simultaneously with my powers, so I can only focus on either offense or defense."

"Jiro, now!" One of the teams, which had Hagakure as the horse, attempted to use the opening while the team was momentarily flying in the air to have Jiro take the headband with her extendable earphones. Alas, their effort was in vain: upon seeing the earphones approaching them, Kageyama used his telekinesis to shove the earphones back to the user while the rest of the team gently returned to the ground and the barrier was once again put around them.

"Dang it!" yelled Jiro.

"GRAH!" Tetsutetsu yelled out in frustration at the esper's multifaceted quirk that allowed him to overcome Honenuki's quirk with relative ease. "No way we're giving up that easily! After them!"

"Great job, Kageyama," said Midoriya, "You managed to get us out of that pickle pretty easily."

"Still, that quirk was rather troubling," remarked Yaoyorozu, "Perhaps it would be better for us to remain in the air to ensure we don't remain trapped."

"No, I still think the ground's still our best bet. If we stay in the air, we leave ourselves too open to attack from multiple angles. If all the enemies strike at once from those different directions, even Kageyama might not be able to stop all those attacks. It's a better bet to stay on the ground with his barrier while keeping our distance from that guy's quirk."

The other teams continued to persist, many of them chasing after the esper's team, determined to find a way to somehow penetrate the barrier and get the big prize. One of those determined teams was none other than Bakugo's team. The hot-headed teenager decided to make a move against Kageyama and propelled himself forward with his explosions.

"Your weak-ass barrier won't save you from me!" Bakugo's hand ignited and created an explosion which enveloped most of the barrier, but to the blonde teenager's frustration, the protection held. Luckily, one of Bakugo's teammates, Sero, used his tape quirk to grab Bakugo just before he touched the ground.

"Bakugo's been separated from his horses!" shouted Present Mic, "Is that even allowed?"

"He never touched the ground, so technically, it's okay!"

"Nice moves, Sero!" said Kirishima, one of the other members of the team, "But man, Kageyama's barrier is definitely strong. How're we gonna be able to get through it and take the ten million points?"

"Maybe we should just try and focus on gathering other headbands instead, get as many points from other teams as possible," Ashido, the final member of Bakugo's team, suggested.

"No way in hell we're doing that!" Bakugo would not settle for simply giving up and letting the esper and his team be. "We're gonna be the indisputable champions of this game!"

"Ok, then how do you plan on getting through those barriers?" the pink-colored teenager inquired. The hot-headed teenager grit his teeth in frustration, going over everything he'd seen from Kageyama and everything he knew about his quirk thus far. His quirk basically revolved around psychic energy which he could utilize and manipulate in a variety of ways, but there had to be some sort of limit, something he could use to his advantage. But what?

"We'll just keep hammering his team with attacks! There's no way bowl cut's gonna be able to keep that barrier up for fifteen minutes, and when he drops it, that's when we make our move!"

But Bakugo's team wasn't the only team that was about to make a move. While many of the teams of Class 1-A had initially been focusing their attention on Kageyama, there were a few teams that had other plans. One of those teams was comprised of students from Class 1-B, and their leader was a harsh cynic of Class 1-A. Detesting the spotlight that class had been thrown under and the way his class was being ignored as a result, this student, Neito Monoma, a blonde-haired teenager with periwinkle purple eyes, had decided to something to make a name for his class. This sports festival was their chance to shine and prove to the world that Class 1-B wasn't just a second-rate class, and though they hadn't performed exceptionally in the obstacle course, the cavalry battle was where they would prove their worth.

Taking the opportune moment to strike, Monoma's team quickly raced towards Bakugo's team, and with a smug look on his face, Monoma casually took the headband away from Bakugo. "Your class is too small minded. You should think bigger."

"He got our headband!"

"What did you say?" yelled Bakugo, "Come back here!"

Monoma's team momentarily stopped so that their rider could give a proper explanation of his big plan. "Midnight said the obstacle course was just the first test, and we figured they wouldn't cut too many of us out right off the bat. Assuming they'd keep at least forty contestants for the next event, all our class had to do was make sure was to stay within that group as we ran. From our spots in the middle, we had the chance to observe the quirks our rivals had and judge their capabilities. Well, everyone except..."

The blue-eyed teenager's smirk momentarily dropped when he took a look at Kageyama, who was listening in on the conversation along with the rest of his team. The esper was the sole exception to Monoma's plan, for he had travelled at such blinding speeds that left everyone else in the dust, so neither he or anyone else in Class 1-B had any real understanding of how Mob's powers worked. But Monoma's smirk quickly returned.

"Regardless, we still got a lot of useful information about most of our rivals. After all, only a fool would obsess over winning the preliminary rounds, wouldn't you agree?"

"So you and your class planned this whole thing from the beginning?" said Bakugo.

"Well, it wasn't a totally unanimous decision, but I'd say that things are playing out well. After all, it's better than chasing after a temporary front-runner like a horse having a carrot waved in front of it's face." The hot-headed teenager's blood began to boil and he took a large inhale through his nostrils. "And since I have your attention, you're pretty famous, aren't you? You were attacked by that sludge villain. You should really tell me about it some other time. It must be pretty odd to always find yourself in the role of the victim."

Monoma's intention of pushing Bakugo's buttons had worked: the explosive teenager's body was now surrounded by a red, murderous aura, his pupils flaming with anger and determination. "Kirishima, we've got a change of plans."

The red-haired teenager looked up and felt his skin shiver when he saw this murderous aura surrounding Bakugo. "Before we take down Deku, we're gonna murder every last one of these B-listers." Despite the overwhelming intent and determination the explosive student was emitting, Monoma was not fazed by his threats and continued smirking confidently at Bakugo.

"So Class 1-B had a long-term strategy that involved them throwing the qualifier," Midoriya remarked, "Guess that would help leave a bigger impression on the audience. Everyone does love an underdog."

"If that means the other teams are keeping their attention away from us, then I'm fine with it," Yaoyorozu said. She also observed how there were a few other teams that were duking it out against each other. "It appears that Shoji's team has also decided to ignore us and is focusing their attention on Monoma." The team turned their eyes toward Shoji and noticed that he appeared to have formed his arms as a sort of protection, a rudimentary version of Kageyama's barrier. If that was the case, then Shoji's teammates were likely being hidden inside to ensure no one could get their headbands, and the only ones who were small enough to fit inside were Mineta and Tsu. Their assumptions were proven correct when a flurry of balls shot out from the opening of Shoji's makeshift protection in an attempt to trap Monoma's team and take their headbands. Alas, they were surprised to find that there was another student who had the ability to erect a less powerful but still effective barrier by solidifying the air he exhaled, making the sticky balls simply slide down the barrier.

While this was happening, Bakugo's team rushed Monoma in an attempt to reclaim their stolen headband, with the hot-headed teenager preparing one of his explosions, but Monoma anticipated this, pushing Bakugo's arm to the side, and in a very surprising counter, struck back with an explosion of his own. The blue-eyed teenager's eyes widened in surprise at how powerful even a small explosion was. "Wow, I get why you like this quirk."

Monoma lightly touched Kirishima's hair for some unknown reason just before Bakugo retaliated with another fierce, more potent explosion. The angry teenager expected the attack to disorient his opponent, but he was in for another surprise when he saw Monoma's arm hardened just like Kirishima's skin.

"Monoma! We've still got incoming!" One of the teammates reminded their rider that Shoji's team was still rapidly approaching them, and even though the attacks were still being blocked by the solidified air, a forward attack could still potentially do damage. Fortunately for Monoma's team, one of their fellow Class 1-B teams saw Monoma's team was being surrounded and decided to act. The front horse was a mutant with a glue dispenser as a head and multiple holes, and as one would expect, his quirk was the ability to shoot a fast-drying glue from his head. He released the glue at a very fast rate, managing to trap both Shoji and tag Kirishima's leg before either of them could lay a hand on Monoma.

"Thanks for the assist, Bondo."

"Grah!" Both Class 1-A teams could feel their mobility hindered by the glue and grunted in frustration. Having taken the headbands from Bakugo and Hagakure, Monoma saw no further need to take the headband from the teammate inside Shoji's protection and ordered his team to leave the area.

"Oh, in case you were wondering, my power lets me copy other quirks, like I did with you two. Anyway, no hard feelings. I mean, after all, I heard you were the one who started this whole feud with the rest of the classes, so our class is just responding accordingly to your threat. Anyway, have fun being stuck in glue."

But the hot-headed teenager would not allow this to stand! He refused to simply allow this jerk to mock him and treat him like an idiot! Bakugo would be sure to get his headband back and prove to that asshole that he was the best student in the arena.

While all of this was happening, Kageyama's team continued to go on the evasive and attempted to keep their distance from the rest of the teams while Mob maintained his barrier, which had allowed them to avoid conflict for a few minutes. However, there were two teams rapidly approaching, both of them from Class 1-B. One of them consisted entirely of females, the rider being a ginger-haired girl with teal eyes named Itsuka Kendo. The other team only had two riders, the horse being a very large beast-like student with spectacles named Jurota Shishida, his large size being sufficient enough to carry his rider, a black-eyed student who wore his hair in a low braid whose name was Hiryu Rin. Both of these teams had their eyes set on the ten million points and were going to do what they could to get it.

The two-man team was the first to make a move. "Let's see if your barrier is strong enough to handle my projectiles!" Rin's arm began to transform, his smooth skin becoming rough and scaled. His quirk was Scales, which allowed Rin to sprout strong, reptilian scales, serving as not only a defense similar to Kirishima, but also as an offense, for his training allowed him to shoot off his scales at high speeds.

"Sprouting Scales!" A volley of high-speed scales were fired at the esper's team, but all of them merely bounced off of the barrier. The black-haired teenager frowned.

"Do not lose heart, Rin." His teammate attempted to console Rin. "Kageyama's defenses appear to be very impervious, and in order to properly penetrate those defenses, a more direct and more potent approach must be taken."

"And do you have something in mind, Shishida?"

"Indeed I do. Maintain a strong grip on my shoulders." The crowd gasped in shock as they saw the hairy student began to enlarge. Kageyama and the rest of his team grew uneasy when they saw this student's body grow to monstrous sizes, ripping off his gym uniform in the process. His claws began to enlarge to the size of bananas, and he roared before jumping into the air. While this was happening, Kendo was beginning her own assault on Kageyama.

"Sorry, Kageyama, but I'm gonna break through your barrier and get that headband!"

The beast soared toward Kageyama with his claws primed while Kendo approached the edge of the esper's barrier, craning both of her fist backwards. Kageyama's team was confused about what Kendo was attempting to accomplish by simply punching. Did she really think regular punches could actually break through the barrier? They were about to find out that there was a very big impact about to come their way.

"Double Jumbo Fist!" Kenda's hands suddenly grew to gigantic sizes just before hitting the barrier. Her quirk allowed her to increase the size of her hands, giving her greater physical strength, and this move was a special move designed to activate her quirk at the last second to maximize damage.

"Roaring Rage!" Shishida threw a large swipe at Kageyama's barrier, the power increased exponentially thanks to his transformation. Both of these attacks struck Kageyama's barrier simultaneously, the combined impact creating several large gusts of wind and a powerful shockwave. The two teams were expecting these combined attacks to do some damage, and if not break the barrier, at the very least crack it so that an opening could be created. Unfortunately for them, their beliefs were proven to be sorely unfounded when not one crack formed.

"Less than six minutes remaining, and Kageyama's team is staying strong! Even the combined attack wasn't enough to break through his barrier!"

Aizawa wasn't surprised: whatever level of physical strength those students had was nothing in comparison to the Nomu, and even when he hadn't gotten angry, Kageyama's barrier had still managed to momentarily hold.

The crowd roared with excitement and amazement at the level of power Kageyama was displaying. It was becoming clear to everyone that the esper had basically every other student in the arena outmatched in strength and speed. Watching from the sidelines, even the number two hero was baffled by the level at which Kageyama was competing. If his son wanted to have any chance of defeating him, he would have to use his left side.

The two teams were left in a state of shock at the way their attacks were so easily handled while Kageyama's team continued sprinting, leaving the two teams behind in the dust. The esper's teammates were all amazed at the fact that their protection was still holding.

"Kageyama, that was incredible!" said Uraraka," I didn't think your barrier would've been able to hold against that."

"My power's at around 80%. If I was at less than a third of my power, those combined attacks might've been able to break my barrier, or at the very least crack it. But for now, I'm pretty sure that no one else in the arena is strong enough to break through."

"What a relief," Yaoyorozu said.

The two teams left behind continued to be in a state of disbelief, and Shishida had transformed back into his regular state. They were so shocked at the way their strongest attacks had been handled that they were completely ignorant of the team that was rapidly approaching them, leaving themselves wide open. They were quickly made aware of this when their legs were all suddenly frozen. The teams turned around and saw Todoroki, whose body was crouched down and his hand touching the ground.

"Sorry, but you shouldn't have dropped your guards." The teenager swiftly reached his hand out and swiped the headbands of Rin's team while Tokoyami used his Dark Shadow to take the headbands from Kendo's team, and quickly made their way toward the ten million points.

Kendo's eyes bulged in shock before she screamed out in frustration. "COME BACK!"

"Would you look at that?" said Present Mic, "He stopped both those teams cold in their tracks!"

Aizawa took his friend's commentary even further. "He took advantage of the fact that the two teams were occupying themselves with Kageyama and froze them when their guards were down. During the obstacle course, he was surprised at how many people managed to avoid his ice attack, so he changed his tactics."

Present Mic gave Eraserhead a big thumbs up. "Nice commentary!"

Back in the cavalry arena, Mob's team was continuing to take evasive maneuvers and keeping their ten million points secured, and because of their increased mobility, were able to keep away from many opponents for a few more minutes, but then, out of nowhere, they were stopped by a giant wall of ice. They all knew that Todoroki's team had finally made a move. The team looked around to find that they were surrounded by a huge wall of ice, and the only other team in sight was Todoroki's. Finally, the two strongest teams of the cavalry battle were about to duke it out.

"How will Kageyama and Todoroki's team fare in these final few minutes! Will Kageyama's barrier continue to hold as it's been holding these past thirteen minutes, or will Todoroki's team manage to break through and steal the ten million points! Let's see!"

"Todoroki used his ice to create a make-shift cage to keep us in," Yaoyorozu remarked, "Though he's still going to have to find a way to break our cage first."

"Yea," continued Midoriya, "No need for us to try and fly away. That would only create an opening for them to exploit." The green-haired fanboy smiled and clenched his fists with determination. "They're not getting our points."

While the esper's team was filled with confidence, Todoroki and the rest of his team were completely stuck, as Mob's team was hoping they would be. The dual quirk-wielding teenager felt his nostrils begin to flare. "I keep underestimating Kageyama. Not only does he have strength and speed, but he has stamina too. He's been able to maintain that barrier for more than ten minutes and defend against the attacks of other enemies, and it looks like he hasn't broken a sweat."

"Quite true, unfortunately. Even when he was sinking from an enemy's quirk, he got himself and his team out using telekinesis. With such power and so many uses, it truly seems as though Kageyama's quirk is unstoppable," remarked Tokoyami.

Todoroki refused to accept that idea! Kageyama's quirk must have a limit, he must run out of stamina at some point! After ten minutes of maintaining that barrier, he must have started to weaken! All Todoroki's team would need to do is continue hammering away at the barrier until that limit was reached!

"Kaminari, use your electricity against Kageyama! Don't hold anything back!" Todoroki ordered.

"Are you sure about that?" the gold-haired teenager said, "My electricity's a big handful, especially at full power."

"You must, Kaminari," urged Iida, "We have to find a way to beat Kageyama and Midoriya, and your electricity just might do the trick."

"They're right, Kaminari. Let's finish this strong."

The gold-haired student gave them all uneasy looks before reluctantly agreeing to the demands of his teammates. "If you say so. Get ready for a taste of 1.3 million volts!"

Kaminari unleashed the fullest extent of his electricity as asked of him, causing all three of his teammates to let out short yelps of anguish, though each of them held on worked through the pain. The electricity travelled in all directions and reached the esper's barrier. When the electricity reached the barrier, Kageyama remembered the last time he'd been on the receiving end of electricity against one of the Scars who'd tried to attack his house. Compared to his electric attack, Kaminari's electricity was practically nothing.

The electric attack sizzled out after only a few seconds, and sadly for Todoroki's team, the 1.3 million volts of electricity shot at Shigeo's team failed to do any damage to the barrier.

"God, am I glad we weren't electrocuted," said Uraraka, wiping her forehead with relief.

"Can't you see that your attacks are pointless?" Yaoyorozu said to the opposing team, "No matter what you do, none of your attacks are strong enough to get through Kageyama's barrier. He's maintained this defense for almost all of this battle against a multitude of attacks, and yet he's still unfazed. You clearly see that. The smartest move I have for your team is to just accept that the ten million points won't be yours and keep the four headbands that you've already gotten, which should be enough to keep it to the top four."

The members of Todoroki's team all scowled. All of them were at a loss for what else they could do. Every attack thrown at him was completely ineffective! So was Yaoyorozu's assessment correct? Was the only option for them to merely give up and accept the undeniable truth that the ten million points wouldn't be theirs?

No! Todoroki would not allow this to be the case! He would prove himself as the champion of the sports festival and beat Kageyama!With the feelings of anger and frustration boiling up inside him, Todoroki acted on impulse and unleashed a short burst of flames on the esper's team. The flames failed to do anything whatsoever, and as soon as he unleashed the attack, the teenager felt utter repulsion at what he had just done. He'd promised himself he wouldn't use his flames, and yet he'd just broken that promise when he felt cornered.

"Good effort, Todoroki, but I don't think flames are going to be enough to break through the barrier," Iida said, "Honestly, I'm at a loss for what to do. Kageyama is a very high hurdle to leap over."

At this point, Todoroki was just going for broke and using whatever method he could to get through the barrier. Despite it having failed before in their battle trial, Todoroki summoned another wave of ice against Kageyama in a fruitless effort. When he saw that fail, Todoroki simply tried to use something new against Shigeo, which in this case was Tokoyami.

"Tokoyami, use your Dark Shadow to try and break through Kageyama's barrier!"

The avian student saw there was nothing to lose at this point and summoned his creature of the night to attack the esper. The large bird hovered over the barrier and began swiping at it with its large claws. Dark Shadow howled in fury as it tried to reach the ten million points.

While this was happening, Bakugo's team remained on the offensive, with the hot-headed teenager refusing to let Monoma get the better of him. While Monoma's team attempted to flee, Bakugo jumped up and attempted to grab the headbands, but a wall of solidified air was put up to protect the team. However, this barrier was many times weaker than Kageyama's, and after only a few punches, Bakugo managed to get two of the headbands back. Monoma attempted to flee and keep the remaining headband they had, which was worth 665 points and would still leave them in fourth place, but Bakugo still wouldn't let it end there. Through his intense perseverance and unbelievable determination, the young hero managed to combine the quirks of his teammates to slide across the field with Ashido's acid while Sero unleashed a volley of tape to pull themselves forward while Bakugo unleashed blasts that propelled them. Thanks to this, Bakugo managed to get all of the points back from Monoma. And now that they'd gotten the best of Monoma, the team made their way toward Shigeo and Shoto's teams to get the ten million points.

Bakugo's team burst through the ice and found the esper's team standing still while Todoroki's team was at the edge of the arena, Dark Shadow desperately trying to grab the headband. The three teammates gasped when they saw the esper's barrier still holding strong, even after fifteen minutes.

"The game is almost over!" Present Mic boomed, "Time for a countdown!"

"You've gotta be kidding me!" said Sero.

"Even after all this, Kageyama's still holding the barrier up!"

"ATTACK!" The hot-headed teenager did not care at this point whether or not things hadn't gone to plan, if the barrier was still up or not. The only thing concerning him at that moment was breaking through the barrier through whatever means. necessary. Bakugo's team approached the barrier, where the hot-headed teenager set off another explosion while Kirishima punched the barrier with his hardened fist. The relentless bashing of Kageyama's barrier was now being done by multiple people, and had there been more time, their combined efforts may have actually been able to pierce the barrier and give them the chance to take the headband, but sadly for both teams, Present Mic put an end to whatever chance that remained.

"Time's up!"

Both teams felt their hopes wither away when the time was called. Despite their best efforts, no team had managed to get the ten million points.

"And with that, the second round is officially over!" Excitement spread throughout the crowd of spectators, many of them cheering with glee at the overwhelming victory Kageyama's team had gotten due to the esper's overwhelming power.

In the arena, Bakugo grabbed his hair, nearly ready to pull it out by the handful with how infuriated he was. His horses quickly decided to back off and put their rider on the ground, where he screamed with absolute indignation. Todoroki managed to contain his anger better, although it was clear by his cold eyes and colder scowl that he was absolutely unpleased with how things had turned out, and he silently cursed to himself.

Kageyama undid the barrier and floated himself onto the ground, looking at the gloomy and frustrated faces of his classmates with some gloom of his own. Even though he'd won, he still couldn't help but feel pity for how his classmates had tried so desperately to get the ten million points, hitting him with their strongest attacks to no avail. His teammates also had a similar feeling, which was why they were not cheering or congratulating each other for their victory.

_81%_

"Good battle, you guys," said Mob in a rather unsuccessful attempt to ease the frustration of his classmates. Some of them took his words to be sincere and attempted to reciprocate the kindness.

"Thanks, but man-o-man, your barrier was something else," Kirishima said, followed by a sigh, "Nothing we did could get through that thing."

"It's clear that I need to become much stronger in order to pose a real threat to you," said Iida, causing the esper to uncomfortably rub the back of his head.

While the teams exchanged words, the announcer's voice reverberated throughout the stadium. "And now, let's takes a look at who our top four teams our: in first place, Team Kageyama! In second place, Team Todoroki! In third place, Team Bakugo! And in fourth place, Team Tets-" Present Mic's voice cut off when he realized that Team Tetsutetsu's headband was in the hands of Team Shinso, who'd somehow managed to get the headbands without attracting attention.

"Wait, what? Team Shinso? When did they come back from the dead?" The purple-haired student smirked, and the rest of his teammates, comprised of Aoyama, Ojiro, and a student from Class 1-B, should have been smirking with him, but instead, they all appeared confused, as if none of them had any recollection of what had just happened, for they didn't.

"Thanks for all your help." Shinso spoke to his teammate in a snarky manner, causing Ojiro's eyes to furrow. The martial artist hadn't joined Shinso's team of his own free will: somehow, Shinso had done something to him and the other two that forced them to join his team, though how he did it, he didn't have a clear idea yet.

In the teacher's box, the symbol of peace was once again beaming with pride. As he'd hoped, Kageyama had given another fantastic performance, this time demonstrating his amazing stamina and the durability of his barrier. The audience was being shown more and more evidence of the limitless potential Mob had as a hero and why he was a force to be reckoned with. Not only that, but he got Midoriya to qualify to the third event, and even though he didn't get to show off any of his abilities during the cavalry battle, there would be plenty of opportunities in the third event, so All Might wasn't very worried.

"These four valiant teams will all advance to the final round! Now, with the cavalry battle over, all you hungry fans can take an hour lunch break before we kick off the third event!"

The other students took it as their cue to get a bite to eat, and Kageyama's team was the first to begin their march to the exit. As they walked together, the joy of their victory managed to resurface, and the two girls broke out in smiles. "That was an outstanding victory! Kageyama, you truly carried our team!" said Yaoyorozu.

"Not a single enemy was able to get past your super strong defenses!" added Uraraka while she pumped her fists.

"Our team definitely left an impression with the audiences, and even if we didn't do much, they still had their eyes on us the whole game." The green-haired fanboy was also relieved to have kept the ten million points like his other two teammates.

"I'm just glad I managed to get all four of us to the final round."

As the four teammates continued across the pathway, they eventually reached the clearing, and the four of them decided to stop at the entrance.

"I think here's where we'll split up," Yaoyorozu uttered, "I'm going to go to the cafeteria and eat lunch."

"Actually, I think I'll go with you," replied Uraraka, "I wanna get some food before the lines get too long."

"Sounds good. Kageyama and I are probably just gonna go hang around in one of the waiting areas before we get some food."

"Kay then. See you later, and great job again!" The two girls waved their teammates off before going off to eat, leaving the two male friends by themselves.

"Actually, Kageyama, I wanted for the two of us to go see All Might before we get some food. I wanna hear his opinion on our performances, see if there were any particular strengths I showed during the obstacle course and how well you did during the obstacle course as well."

"I totally get it. I hope both of us are doing what All Might's expecting of us."

"You? I have no doubt in my mind that everyone's already got a crazy good look at what you're capable of." The two friends were about to march through the arena to find the symbol of peace, but before they could, both of them heard the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching them. They turned to their right and saw Todoroki staring at both of them with his cold eyes and his hands balled into fists.

"It's Todoroki," muttered Mob, "And he looks pretty serious."

"You think he wants something with us?" The green-eyed teenager guessed correctly, for the dual quirk-wielding student stopped right in front of the two of them.

"I wanna talk to both of you, now."

The two teenagers exchanged uneasy looks with each other before staring back at Todoroki. "With us?"

"It's not gonna take long. We'll talk at the entrance to that hallway over there." Shigeo and Izuku were unsure of whether or not to accept this invitation. Given the cold and frustrated look in his eyes, whatever conversation they were about to have wasn't going to be friendly or sociable. But even so, both of them felt that the red and white-haired classmate had something important to say to both of them, and Kageyama, in particular, was a person who was perfectly fine with talking to others.

"Uh, sure. We can talk." Kageyama was the first to speak. Todoroki didn't even bother waiting for Midoriya to give his reply and began walking toward the adjacent hallway, with the two training partners tailing right behind him. As they suspected, Todoroki did have something important to say to them. He'd made his declaration of war to both of them earlier in the waiting lounge, but after facing both of them in the two events, the teenager felt as though he needed to dig deeper into why he started this feud with the two of them, what was really happening with Todoroki, and explain to both of them why he refrained from using his left side in battle, barring the moment of frustration that he'd allowed to get him carried away. Not only that, but he had a few questions for the two of them as well, and he was determined to get some answers.

* * *

**As expected, Mob once again takes the spotlight in all his glory, proving to the other classes and the audience that his power is on an entirely different level in so many regards! For those wishing to see Hatsume, I couldn't find a way to fit her into this, so unfortunately, she's no longer a factor in the sports festival. **

**I made sure to remind you all that Kageyama still isn't as skilled in wielding multiple powers, and he still can't do two things at once. This has sometimes confused me, since during the battle with Dimple, he used his telekinesis to float all of the followers to the roof while fighting Dimple, but I think the reason for this is that when he's emitting high psychic energy, he subconsciously uses telekinesis to lift objects. In this case, he had to make a conscious effort to lift his teammates. At least, that's how I interpret it. ****At the very least, there's never really been any concrete evidence or statement that proves he can wield two powers simultaneously, and since Mob's already ridiculously overpowered, I think this very small weakness isn't really that big of a blow, if only a very slight nerf. **

**Now that the cavalry battle is over, that means that the big final battles are going to start, and we'll see just how Shigeo fares, how much he will dominate once again!**


	18. Rejection

**Chapter 18 is out! Now the one-on-one matches of the sports festival are going to commence! So enjoy!**

* * *

The three powerful students were standing silently in the hallway, with Izuku and Shigeo unsure of how to proceed with things with Shoto staring both of them down with cold intimidation, his hands stuffed in his pockets. Both students felt small sweat beads trickle down their faces, and the green-haired teenager nervously gulped.

"We should probably get something to eat pretty quickly, since the cafeteria's gonna get busy pretty quickly." Todoroki's face didn't falter in the slightest, which only made Midoriya even more nervous. Kageyama, on the other hand, attempted to approach this from a more peaceful and patient viewpoint to lessen the intensity that was surrounding their classmate.

"Todoroki, if you've got something to say to us, by all means, go ahead and talk. I'm all ears," The dual quirk-wielding teenager was taken aback by the sincerity in the esper's voice and momentarily dropped his collected composure, though he quickly put it back up and decided to get down to business.

"During the cavalry battle, I became overwhelmed by the strength of your barrier, Kageyama, and in that moment of frustration, I broke the promise I'd made to myself a long time ago." Shoto took out his left hand and stared at it emptily, recalling that moment of weakness.

"I've come to see that both of you have incredible strength, an overwhelming power that can easily destroy walls and buildings, power that could easily kill if used on another person. That overwhelming power... it reminds me of All Might. Seeing him obliterate the Nomu showed me the unimaginable strength he wields, and I can't help but see a few similarities between you two and All Might."

The two friends drew their eyebrows together and felt their throats constrict in panic. Todoroki was starting to put some pieces together, so how long before he figured out the truth? Or had he already figured out the truth, and had called both of them here to confront them over this?

"So tell me... are you two All Might's secret love children? Are you two half-brothers?" Todoroki made this assumption of being half-brothers since Kageyama possessed a variety of different powers in addition to his super strength while also possessing greater control over that physical strength in comparison to Midoriya.

The two friends immediately gaped their eyes open in shock. This wasn't the sort of question either of them was expecting Todoroki to ask them. Furthermore, he thought that the two of them were brothers? The two friends exchanged their looks of shock with each other before glancing back at Todoroki, who was waiting for an answer. "Well?"

"Us, brothers? No way, it's not like that at all!" Midoriya said while making nervous, jerk-like movements, "Though even if it were true, I guess I'd also say that I wasn't, so making you believe me might be pretty hard."

"Trust us, the two of us aren't All Might's kids or anything," Mob continued with the same nervous voice, "You've got the wrong idea."

Despite their attempts to dispel Todoroki's assumptions, the red-and-white haired student remained suspicious about their claims, taking particular interest in the words they had used just now.

"The words you used just now, Midoriya, "It's not like that at all," was a curious selection. That would imply that there is something going on with the three of you that you're not supposed to talk about." Todoroki's accurate assumptions caused both teenagers to shift uneasily in their places.

"My father is the hero, Endeavor. You must have heard of him, which means you're also aware he's the number two hero." Midoriya was well aware of this, but Kageyama, being poorly versed in heroes, had no idea who Endeavor was, so Todoroki was giving him a quick lesson. "Which means that if both of you are somehow connected to the number one hero, All Might, in some way, that would mean I have even more incentive to defeat both of you.

"My old man's ambitious and aims to be at the top. He used his incredible quirk as a means to make a name for himself, but despite all his work, he could never find a way to beat All Might, so the Symbol of Peace is the constant reminder of his failure. Yet even now, he hasn't given up on his ambition of trying to take the number one spot, and is trying to do that through any means necessary."

"Any means necessary?" said Kageyama, already not liking the tone and wording Todoroki was choosing, "What do you mean by that? What're you trying to tell us?"

"Have you ever heard of quirk marriages?" Both teenagers shook their heads. "They started after the first few generations of quirks had passed, right around when quirks were beginning to become widespread. Many people sought out mates solely with the intention of creating powerful children, and because of that, many people were forced into relationships, and they were simply viewed as old-fashioned arranged marriages, but it was obviously unethical. For my father, he already possessed several accomplishments and a great deal of wealth to throw at his problems. He bought my mother's relatives to get his hands on her quirk, and now, he's raising me to usurp All Might. During my childhood, all I did was train to improve my quirk. I had three other siblings who lived with me, but I could never properly interact with them because of my training and because my father took no interest in them, since none of them had the same kind of quirk combination that I do."

Once the image had been clearly painted for the two teenagers, Shigeo and Izuku felt their bodies tense up, their eyes widened in shock and terror.

"It's so annoying. I refuse to be a tool for that scumbag," Todoroki said, his eyes narrowed with indignation. "In every memory I have of my mother, I only see her crying. I remember her calling my left side unbearable..." The dual quirk-wielding hero's body hunched forward, and he placed his hand over his scar as the memory of her mother's proceeding act came back to him, "before pouring boiling water over my face."

Kageyama and Midoriya instantly felt the breath being sucked out of them, their lips trembling. The idea that Todoroki's mother could have done something to her son was horrifying, not to mention utterly tragic.

_84%_

"The reason I've been picking fights with both of you was to show my old man what I was capable of, without having to rely on his damn fire quirk. I'm gonna show him that I reject his power, and Kageyama, I'm going to beat you using only my mother's power to prove that I don't need it to win this tournament."

When Todoroki made this proclamation, he didn't realize that there was someone else who was listening in. Bakugo, having seen Todoroki storm off by himself, couldn't help but follow him while making sure to keep his distance and avoid arousing suspicion. Then, when he overheard where they'd be talking, he went around and hid in the corner to see what Todoroki had wanted to discuss with Kageyama and Midoriya.

Both friends stood in silence, each processing what they had just heard and still reeling from the shock of how tragic Todoroki's backstory was. For Todoroki, having said all he wanted to say, put his hands back into his pockets and walked away from his classmates. "You two are obviously connected to All Might in some way, even if you won't tell me. But I swear to both of you, if we fight during the tournament, I'll stand victorious using only my right side." The apathetic student continued walking alone while both Midoriya and Kageyama finished processing everything they'd been told. For Kageyama, he was so startled and saddened by Todoroki's backstory that his mind was at a complete blank, unsure of what to say to the dual quirk-wielding teenager. Midoriya, on the other hand, did know what he wanted to say, and before Shoto could leave their sight, the green-haired fanboy sprinted up to him, with Kageyama following behind him.

"Wait!" Shoto did as asked and decided to listen to whatever else Midoriya had to say. "I'm only here because others have supported me. I've been extremely lucky." The fanboy exchanged glances and a smile with the esper, who'd stuck by him all those grueling months. "In fact, I've had even more help since I've come to U.A." The green-haired teenager glanced at his fist, his thoughts focused primarily on All Might and the moments he'd shared with the Symbol of Peace.

"All Might's always saving people with a fearless smile. He's the greatest hero in the world, and I want to be a hero just like him. Even though that motivation might seem stupid compared to yours, it's still my goal, and I can't lose this either! I owe it to everyone who's supported me to do my best in this tournament. You declared war on me earlier? Well, right back at you." With his fist clenched and his eyes sparkling with the determination Kageyama had become so familiar with, Midoriya confidently stated, "I am going beat you!"

The three of them stood silent for a few seconds, the wind blowing their hair and creating a soft rustling noise. Then, the dual quirk-wielding student decided to end the conversation at that, and resumed his silent march. Bakugo, seeing that the conversation was over, also decided to leave and walk back through the long, darkened corridors.

Standing beside him, the esper was being reminded of the very high goals that Midoriya had and the way he was still reaching out for his dream of being the number one hero like All Might. It was that passion that kept him going through those ten months of physical training and one of the reasons why Kageyama couldn't help but admire him. Mob placed his hand on his friend's shoulder and gave him another small smile. "Come on, Midoriya. Let's get going."

"Sure thing. And by the way, Kageyama, if we do happen to fight during the third event, I'm not gonna hold anything back. Even against you, I'm still gonna try my best to take the number one spot."

"I understand." Shigeo was basically expecting his friend to make some statement like this after hearing the way he declared war against Todoroki just now. It still pained the esper to know that there could only be one winner, that Midoriya couldn't be the number one alongside him, and to know that if there was some sort of battle or confrontation they'd have to face against each other, the esper would have to try and beat him, since he still had to fulfill the expectations set by All Might.

* * *

Lunch was rather uneventful for both Kageyama and Midoriya, who decided to sit with Uraraka and Yaoyorozu and chat about how the cavalry battle had gone, as well as pondering what the third event would be. The two friends finished their meals somewhat quickly, for they wanted the chance to speak to All Might before things proceeded with the third event. Wandering through the arena and through the corridors, the two students had spent around ten to twenty minutes trying to find All Might, but had sadly come short on finding him. There weren't too many people they came across because most of them were out eating lunch, but for the few people they did find, they'd complimented Kageyama for his outstanding performance.

"Midoriya, we've only got about ten minutes before we have to reconvene. Maybe we should just head back now."

"Yea, I guess that's the best-"

"Yo, you guys!" Just when they were prepared to give up their search, the number one hero came running through the halls in his true form, wearing a very baggy suit.

"I was just looking for you two!" The hero's voice was loud and energetic, and he began to let out throaty laugher as he approached the two students, his attention first directed towards Kageyama.

"Kageyama, you were absolutely incredible! Your performance during this festival has been at a level far higher than I was expecting!"

"You really think so?" said Kageyama, his dull eyes lighting up with hope and relief.

"Without a doubt! Man, you should've seen the faces of the teachers when you lifted every single robot into the air!"

"Huh?" Midoriya's jaw dropped to the floor. Did he hear All Might correctly? "You lifted all of them, including the zero point robots, which are the size of buildings?"

"Yep, and thanks to his speed, he breezed through the obstacle course in less than twenty seconds, though if he hadn't slowed down when he lifted the robots, he would've probably finished in less than seven." The green-haired teenager's head jerked back, his voice having been completely lost. Twenty seconds? A four kilometer obstacle course that Midoriya was only able to get through with gambles and guesses was finished in only twenty seconds by Kageyama? Just how fast was he flying?

All Might attempted not to focus all of his excitement and attention on Kageyama, and shifted the focus toward Midoriya.

"Midoriya, you also did a great job during the obstacle course, using your wits and tactics to get ahead of the others without even using One For All."

When All Might mentioned One For All, Izuku's eyes instantly went to the ground. Even though he'd been trying his best to practice control of One For All, imagining the egg in the microwave, he still hadn't actually tested his power yet. There were too many things he was unsure about, and Midoriya didn't know how things would turn out. But before he could properly voice those worries and concerns to All Might, an announcement rang out through the speaker system.

"The third event will begin shortly. Please return to your seats."

"We better hurry to the arena soon, Midoriya. We don't wanna be late." The esper began a light jog, and after a brief glance of hesitation at All Might, the fanboy followed his friend's lead and ran to the stairs.

"We'll talk later!" The symbol of peace waved his two students off, beaming with pride with what they had accomplished and knowing that they would both make it very far in the coming event.

The two friends took rather long to make it to the bottom of the arena due to the very many staircases they had to run down, only barely making it in time to walk out into the arena with the rest of their classmates. Once the students all began filing out, the crowd began their cheering, more than ready to see how the final event would go, while Present Mic continued his job and announced what would follow. For the students who didn't make it to the finals, there were recreational games set up for them to partake in, and cheerleaders had even been brought in to boost the energy. However, the students quickly noticed that there were a few extra cheerleaders with faces they all recognized...

It was the girls of Class 1-A all dressed as cheerleaders, having been tricked into wearing these outfits by Kaminari and Mineta, who wanted to see the girls of their class dressed in skimpy outfits. Upon seeing Yaoyorozu dressed in such an outfit, Mob's face began to ripen like a tomato, and he covered up his face to hide the growing heat. After managing to calm himself down, he walked with the rest of the students to the podium, where Midnight was waiting to give the details of the final event. As he was walking, he couldn't help but notice that many of the students were giving him looks of awe and amazement, whispering to each other as they saw him walk by. It appeared as though his performance in the obstacle course and cavalry battle had managed to make quite the impression on them, and it was something Mob had not anticipated.

On a large jumbo screen in the arena, a tournament bracket was shown with sixteen different spots, waiting to be filled by the sixteen winners of the cavalry battle. Midnight began to explain the way the brackets would be chosen by lot, the names of the sixteen winners all placed in a big yellow lot box. But before the brackets could be chosen, Ojiro and Shoda, the two members of Shinso's team, had decided to give up their spots in the final tournament. Though the classmates of Ojiro had tried to convince him otherwise, Ojiro felt as though he had not earned his place in the finals, and to keep his pride, he surrendered his spot in the tournament, with Shoda following his lead. Midnight accepted their proposition, and in their place, had decided to pick two students from Class 1-B, Tetsutetsu and Shiozaki, two members of Team Tetsutetsu.

After the two new members had their names put into the lots, the sixteen winners drew their names from the lots, and the brackets were as followed: Midoriya vs. Shinso, Todoroki vs. Sero, Kaminari vs. Shiozaki, Uraraka vs. Iida, Aoyama vs. Ashido, Yaoyorozu vs. Tokoyami, Kirishima vs. Tetsutetsu, and finally, Kageyama vs. Bakugo.

For Uraraka, upon discovering that her opponent was Iida, she felt her entire body shiver with fear. Iida was an extremely fast, capable adversary who also happened to be a member of the Ingenium family. How would she be able to defeat such a strong enemy?

The esper was quite surprised to find that Bakugo would be his first opponent. He assumed he would be fighting him during the quarter finals or semi-finals, but facing him right off the bat was quite the unexpected pairing. Mob looked around to see where his opponent was among the crowd, and when he spotted him, it turned out Bakugo had already been looking at him, staring him down with a bold look in his eyes. This bold intimidation caused the esper to nervously gulp, and he averted his gaze. Mob looked at the board, and noticed that Midoriya had been pitted against Shinso, the one from general studies. He turned around and saw the purple-haired teenager greet Midoriya, but for some reason, the moment Midoriya tried to open his mouth, Ojiro covered it with his tail.

Mob walked over to the two of them, wanting to know the reason Ojiro made that sudden move, and more importantly, what kind of opponent his friend was up against.

"Why did you cover Midoriya's mouth?" asked Kageyama.

"Midoriya can't say a word to him." Both friends lifted their eyebrows up in confusion. What did he mean by that? Ojiro had been one of Shinso's teammates, meaning that he had an understanding of how his quirk worked. There was no time for him to spend on any fun activities like the rest of his classmates. He had to think of a strategy for his match.

"Ojiro, could you tell me everything you've figured out about Shinso's quirk?"

"No way I want that guy to win. Let's go to the waiting room: I'll help you however I can."

"I'll go with you two."

"Really? You sure you don't want to enjoy the recreational games with everyone else?" said Midoriya.

"It's no big deal."

"I appreciate it. I might need all the support I can get." So while Present Mic began to announce the start of the recreational games, some of the students who weren't interested in having fun and wanted to conserve their stamina each exited the arena. While the three classmates were walking together toward one of the waiting area, Izuku felt the weight of his oncoming match start to settle on him. He'd have to be fighting powerful students with amazing quirks, while he barely had a handle on his own quirk. And to make things worse, his opponent was someone with a quirk he had no understanding of, which was why he had to learn everything he could.

The three students all entered the empty waiting room and took their seats at a table.

"I remember you were saying in the arena that you didn't remember most of the cavalry battle." The esper was the first to start the conversation, and the martial artist somberly nodded.

"Yep. During the cavalry battle, he approached me and asked me a question. As soon as I answered it, my mind began to fog up. I couldn't think clearly. I think... his quirk gives him the ability to control people."

The two friends were baffled at this revelation. For Midoriya, his face began to lose its color, and he cupped his hands over his face. "Controlling other people... is there even a way for me to beat a quirk like that."

"Actually, there is. I'm pretty sure his quirk only works if you respond to him. And even if he somehow manages to get you, there's still a way for you to get out of his grip. Like I said, I don't remember most of the cavalry battle except for the very end. I think we were running away after grabbing Tetsutetsu's headband, when I bumped into another person. As soon as that happened, it was as if the fog in my mind cleared, and I was me again."

"So that bump broke his hold?" said Mob.

"It's just a guess, but I still think it has some merit. Either way, I don't know what kind of shock you'd need to break his hold, and you can't rely on any assistance in a one-on-one fight." Ojiro got up from his seat, prompting Midoriya and Kageyama to do the same.

"Anyway, I hope my advice was helpful, since it's all I know."

"It definitely was. Thanks so much for your help, Ojiro! You're a good guy!"

"I know it's selfish to say it, but beat this guy for both of us, alright?" The martial artist reached his hand out into a fist bump, which the green-haired eagerly accepted.

"I'll do my best." Ojiro gave a final nod before exiting the room to enjoy the recreational activities. Despite having been told the weaknesses of his opponent's quirk and having an easy way to avoid getting trapped under his control, Izuku still couldn't shake the feeling of uneasiness. Shigeo could sense this, and attempted to give some words of reassurance to his friend.

"Midoriya, I'm sure you'll be able to do this. Shinso's quirk relies on you talking, so as long as you don't talk, it'll just be a fight with no quirks, and when it comes to that, you'll be able to take a victory no doubt. Your muscles, knowledge on heroes and fighting will be more than enough to take Shinso on."

"I hope you're right..." When thinking of all the potential opponents he would face, Izuku thought of the match-up with Kageyama and Bakugo.

"So your first match is gonna be against Kacchan. I was expecting that fight to happen, sure, though not in the first round.

"I'm positive Kacchan's been waiting for this moment, preparing for the chance to fight you again during this tournament and avenge his loss after the battle trial. Who knows what he'll try. But no matter what he does, I'm definitely sure you'll still win."

The two of them remained together in the waiting room, with Midoriya doing some basic stretches and exercises to loosen his muscles and his nerves, while Kageyama stayed there to continue lending his emotional support to his friend, who needed it very much. While this was happening, the finalist students went on with the recreational games, while others who were more solemn spent their time alone, hyping themselves up for the tournament and the matches that would come. It felt as though the time had barely passed when the recreational games had come to an end, and the first match would commence. When Midoriya heard Present Mic's voice through the speaker system, he knew that the time had finally come.

"Well, guess I better get going. You should probably also get going to the student spectator stands." The green-haired teenager walked to the door, but just before he exited the room, the psychic gave him his last words of support.

"Hey. I'm gonna see you in the finals."

The fanboy's eyes shined with the green luminance Mob had come to get used to, and he gave his bowl-haired friend a thumbs-up. "Yep. See you there."

The two friends went their separate ways for the moment, the fanboy still feeling his nerves festering inside him, with the psychic also feeling slightly concerned: this concern, however, wasn't so much for Midoriya's first battle, but his potential and likely following battle with Todoroki. The fact that Kageyama was already thinking of this fight demonstrated the confidence he had in his friend and his first battle, but sadly, he did not have the same level of confidence for his fight against the dual quirk-wielding teenager. He had great power and control with his quirk that would make it very difficult for Izuku to land any proper blows on him, thanks to all of the training he underwent...

Mob grimaced when he thought of Todoroki's backstory, how tragic his childhood was. His father sounded like a very harsh and inconsiderate person whose quest to be the number one hero had completely consumed him, causing him to view his son as less than a person and more as a tool to enact his vision of being the number one. And then there was the situation with his mother. Although it was difficult to fully understand what her story was, it was quite obvious that she was very unhappy with her life at home, likely because of how ruthlessly Endeavor had trained Shoto and how he'd forced her into marriage. Perhaps all that time in misery, living in a house where her child was constantly abused by a man who she never wanted to be with, had driven her over the edge and caused her mind to break. He remembered what Todoroki said, how she viewed his left side as "unbearable". Yes, it seemed likely that her resentment for her husband's actions had resulted in her breaking down and pouring the boiling water over Todoroki's face.

Mob's entire body shuddered: he knew all-too-well what that experience was like, living everyday in misery, surrounded by people he didn't like, facing constant abuse that had caused him to snap, unleashing his powers and leading him to almost commit murder. The pain and regret she must have felt and was likely still feeling was doubtlessly unbearable, and even when knowing next to nothing about her, he felt strong sadness and empathy for her. That empathy was also strong for Todoroki, whom he now had a better understanding of thanks to learning of his backstory.

"Hey!" Shigeo was snapped out of his thoughts by Bakugo's loud and angry voice. His fierce red eyes were particularly heated, and his teeth were bared with unbridled ferocity, and the esper immediately took a step back. This did little to help, though, as Bakugo quickly paced toward him until they were only inches apart.

"Oh, Bakugo..." The esper tried to have a normal, positive conversation with his classmate. "Surprising that the two of us got paired up for the first round. I hope that it'll go well for both of us."

In a noble yet predictably unsuccessful act, Mob extended his hand, which Bakugo vehemently slapped away. In fact, that act actually seemed to make him more infuriated. "God, enough with your bullshit! You better not enter our fight with any of your sentimental garbage, got it? Our match is the final one in the first round, which means that the best is for last, so you damn well better show your best too, cuz there's no way I'm gonna take it easy on you! I'll straight up murder you in front of the entire world!"

The explosive teenager swooped in even closer and grabbed Mob by the shirt, causing him to let out a small yelp. "So show me that anger you showed me before! Come at me with those same red eyes! I'll beat you at your strongest, and there's no way I'll settle for anything less! You've got it?" Bakugo didn't even wait for Mob to give an answer, and let go of his shirt while pacing to the spectator stand in an angry huff.

Shigeo followed Bakugo, making sure to keep his distance from him while they both made their way to the student spectator stands After a few more minutes of walking up flights of stairs and reading the signs to help him navigate through the arena, they finally made it to the student spectator stand, where they were the first ones there. With a clear view of the center arena, he saw many of the students filing out, and one of the teachers, Cementoss, manipulating the cement that was coming out of a large pipe and shaping it into a large square. So Cementoss was using his quirk to make a stadium for the combatants to fight, pretty useful. He also noticed there was another spectator stand adjacent to him, likely where Class 1-B would be seated.

The other students made it to the spectator stand after a few minutes while Shigeo and Katsuki sat in silence and awkwardness for the esper, though all of the students who had joined were males. Shigeo managed to piece together that the girls were changing out of their cheerleader outfits, and by the time they joined the rest of their class, Cementoss had already finished making the ring for the fighters, and Present Mic was beginning his grand announcements. As the hero made his announcements, the students of Class 1-A were all mumbling to themselves, wondering how this first round would go.

"I wonder how Midoriya is going to fare in this first round," said Tokoyami.

"I'm pretty sure Midoriya's got this first match in the bag," replied Ojiro, "Wouldn't you say, Kageyama."

"No question."

"Though he might have to break a few fingers in the process," Kaminari remarked.

If Midoriya played his cards right, then Kaminari would be incorrect. The announcer officially started the match, and Shisho began it with conversation. Mob was expecting that friend remain strong and silent, but he was proven wrong when the purple haired teenager made some scathing commentary, causing the fanboy to yell out in frustration. It was at that moment that Midoriya fell under the opponent's control.

Ojiro got out of his seat and clamped his hands onto his head. "No! I warned him not to say anything!"

"Midoriya! No!" The psychic watched with dread as his friend began to march the opposite way, preparing to go out of the ring.

_88%_

"He's going out of the ring!"

"What's he doing? If he walks out of the ring, he'll lose the match!"

"It's not him! He's being controlled!" The other classmates were not expecting Shinso to have a power like that, and now that they realized what it was and what had just happened to Midoriya, they began to feel as though this match had already been decided. "Ojiro, do you think he'll be able to break free?"

"I don't..." The martial artist slumped back in his chair, a defeated look on his face that Mob slowly began to mimic when he began to figure out that his friend had no one there to shock him out of his trance, no way to snap himself out of the trance, leaving him with no defense against the forced order to walk out of the ring. Or so he thought...

Just before Izuku put his foot over the white edge of the ring, a very strong gust of wind came forth from the teenager's body. The defeated look on the esper's face quickly morphed into one of relief: he did it! Somehow, Midoriya managed to use One For All in his fingers, creating a blast of air powerful enough to shake his body and snap him out of his trance. He didn't know how it was possible, but somehow his friend did it! And now, having learned from his brief mistake, his friend would undoubtedly keep his mouth shut and win this fight!

Shigeo's assumption was correct, and despite Shinso's yelling and further attempts to provoke Midoriya into speaking, his friend pushed Shinso with all his force out of the ring.

"Come on, Midoriya!" In a rare moment of visible emotion, the esper slightly raised his voice and shouted in support for Midoriya. Shinso punched his opponent to stop his assault, but the teenager did not budge. The two of them were quickly approaching the edge of the ring. Then, to loosen his grip, Shinso punched Midoriya in his injured fingers, causing him to loosen his grip. For a fleeting moment, the esper's heart constricted when he saw Shinso grab Midoriya's face and nearly push him out of bounds, but then, he used the same move he used against Bakugo, throwing Shinso's body out of the ring and making Midoriya the victor of the first round.

In the spectator stand of Class 1-A, Uraraka's eyes were closed while she sighed with relief. "Man, that was so nerve-wracking!"

"He managed to turn the tables at the last moment! Classic Midoriya!" said Iida.

"That shoulder throw! Remember when he pulled that move on you, Bakugo?" Kaminari said.

"Shut the hell up, Sparky!"

Similar to his two friends, the esper was relieved and proud to find that Midoriya was going to advance onto the second round. Still, now that the fight was over, it allowed Mob to appreciate the gravity of the fact that Shinso had lost. Even though Midoriya was his friend and he'd wanted him to win, he also knew how much being a hero meant to Shinso, how he'd tried and failed to get into the hero course through the practical exam. During his speech, he's exchanged a brief glance with the purple-haired teenager, for his speech truly did reach out to people like him, people who had their own dreams they wanted to have made into reality. For those reasons, his heart went out to him, and it was why he was one of the only people of Class 1-A frowning as he watched Shinso exit the ring.

Seeing that the first round had come to an end, and his match would be up next, Sero got out of his seat and decided to head to the exit point for the ring. A few of the classmates like Kirishima and Kamainari patted him on the back and wished him luck, which the tall teenager gratefully accepted. Once Sero left the spectator stand, the dual quirk-wielding teenager, who was hanging out at the edge of the spectator stand far from any of the other students, followed his opponent's lead and began to head out for the next round. None of the classmates said anything to him, for they knew of his cold demeanor and stoic attitude. Well, everyone except one bowl-haired esper.

"I hope you do good out there, Todoroki." The red and white-haired student heard this comment of praise coming from the esper, and turned his head to find the esper's lips slightly upturned. Todoroki's head flinched back in confusion, and his eyes squished together, before he simply dismissed Shigeo and exited the spectator stand. As he watched that unfold, Bakugo felt the vein in his forehead throb, and he gripped his shirt tightly. There he went again, acting all nice and friendly, even to the guy that had literally declared war on him twice and said he would defeat him. Where the hell did he get the idea to act so friendly like this?

As he was walking down the hallway, Todoroki was thinking the same thing as Bakugo. How the hell could he still act so calm and peaceful with him? He'd already rejected his offer of support and friendship before in the battle trial by fiercely swatting his hand away, and had declared war on him two times in a single day! He made it clear that he was here to win, and that the two of them were rivals. So why was he acting as though none of that had ever happened? Why did he have to insist on acting like this with him, behaving amicable and understanding? It was just so confusing, trying to understand Kageyama.

Back in the spectator stand of Class 1-A, the students continued making conversation. "So you're maintaining a positive attitude toward Todoroki, despite his proclamation of war," Yaoyorozu remarked, "An admirable move, though Todoroki's not very keen on reciprocating that kindness."

"I get that you're his rival and all, but I mean, Todoroki could at least try and show a little respect for you," said Kirishima.

"He's made his intention of winning very clear, and that leaves little room for anything else," added Iida.

The esper merely shrugged his shoulders and let out a soft sigh. It was unfortunate that the ice and fire-wielding teenager did not warm up to him, but Shigeo could not blame Todoroki for his behavior after hearing all the horrid things he'd experienced as a child. He had so much pain inside him, pain that the esper did not know how to alleviate. After a few minutes of waiting for the following match to proceed, Midoriya finally came back and reunited with the rest of his class, wearing some bandages around his fingers.

"Hey Deku! Great job!"

"Come on! We saved you a seat over here!"

Iida and Uraraka motioned for their friend to join them, while Kageyama beamed at his friend. Ojiro gave a short glance at Mob before looking at Midoriya and clamping his fist as a move of approval. Both gestures caused Midoriya's lips to curve up highly. The green-haired teenager sat down with his friends, and had happened to make it just in time for the second round to begin. Present Mic made his lengthy and dramatic introductions of the two opponents in the ring before he officially announced the start of their fight.

Sero made the first move, shooting two volleys of tape around Todoroki's arms and legs to immobilize him, then fired another volley to wrap around his body and throw him out of the ring. It seemed like the fight would be over very quickly, and Sero would be the obvious victor, but then, the dual quirk-wielding teenager used his ice quirk. The students of Class 1-A knew that Todoroki's ice quirk was powerful, but even they could never imagine what it could do at its fullest capacity. The entire arena shook when Todoroki unleashed his ice attack. This ice was a monstrous size, managing to reach the spectator stand of Class 1-A and even managed to reach the outskirts of the stadium that allowed the people outside to see Todoroki's attack.

All the teachers and the students in the stands were left dumbstruck by this phenomenal display of power. Well, everyone except Mob, who only displayed mild shock at the most for two reasons: one, he wasn't that interested in how powerful other quirks were or by displays of power, and two, even this was nothing in comparison to the scale and potency of Suzuki's ice attack. After getting over the shock of Todoroki's large-scale attack, their next big shock was at the lack of Kageyama's similar surprise.

"Dude, Kageyama, how the hell are you acting like this is nothing?" said Kaminari.

"Oh, I don't..." The esper could not give a satisfactory answer, or any answer at all, and shrugged his shoulders in meek surrender. The electricity-wielding teenager crossed his arms and pursed his lips into a straight line, befuddled by the psychic's neutral expression.

"Kaminari, lay off Kageyama. It's probably cuz he's such a man, he's able to keep such a strong composure." An incorrect but very respectful assumption on Kirishima's part. Sero, having been completely immobilized by Todoroki's attack, knew when to call it quits and surrendered the fight. For the spectators, they took pity on Sero and all began to chant "Nice try" in their attempt to show their sympathy. With the battle finished, Todoroki used his left side, placing his hand on Sero's body and melting the large construct of ice.

In the spectator stand of Class 1-A, the two friends noticed something with Todoroki as he used his heat to melt the ice.

"Can you see it, Midoriya," said Kageyama, whispering into his ear.

"Yea. Right now, Todoroki looks so... sad."

The esper could not stand to see Todoroki in such a state of pain, knowing how much internal conflict he was experiencing. "I think the two of us should go talk to him."

The fanboy closed his eyes and slightly shook his head. "I don't think that's the best idea. During the sports festival isn't the best time to have a conversation like that. I know you want to help, but we should just leave him be for now."

Shigeo also closed his eyes and sighed. He wanted to do whatever he could to help his classmate, but perhaps Izuku was right. After all, Todoroki was viewing him as just a large a rival as Bakugo was, and the explosive teenager had repeatedly rejected his words of wisdom and attempts at friendship. If he tried to talk to Shoto now, the dual quirk-wielding teenager would likely rebuff his words or advice in a similar fashion.

Melting such a large ice construct took a few minutes, and the excessive amount of ice being melted caused a huge cloud of steam to rise up from the stadium, a cloud which could be seen from a few miles. Once the pillar of ice was completely gone, the red and white-haired teenager quickly paced out of the ring with his fists in his pockets, while Sero, whose body was still affected by the cold, was shivering head-to-toe, and he rapidly rubbed his arms over his body in his attempt to warm himself up.

With the third round coming soon, the electricity-wielding teenager was next in the line up. "Well, guess I'm next." Kaminari got up from his seat, his classmates wishing him good luck before going on to fight his opponent from Class 1-B. A few minutes passed, and Sero returned to the spectator stand, still shivering from the drop in body temperature. Some of the classmates gave their condolences and patted him on the back.

In the ring, the hero announcer introduced the next competitors, calling Shiozaki an assassin, a term which the girl from Class 1-B did not like being called. She made her distaste for that term known to Present Mic, and began to preach her reasons for being at U.A. High, to spread goodness to the world through her actions as a hero. Upon seeing her, Kaminari was instantly smitten. She had mesmerizing dark green eyes with long lower eyelashes, and the golden-haired teenager couldn't help but view her as cute. So even though he still wanted to win this, he attempted to play it cool and asked her out to eat later on, saying that he could console her when she lost, then arrogantly claiming the fight would only last two seconds. With electricity cackling all around him, he released the same attack he used against Kageyama to try and knock out Shiozaki, but the girl's quirk proved to be able to create an effective countermeasure.

The quirk, Vines, made it so that vines grew from her head, allowing the girl to manipulate those vines to her will. In this case, she erected a large wall of vines, and since the material did not conduct electricity, Kaminari's attack could not get through the vines. Having used his maximum output, the teenager's intellectual capacity was greatly diminished, and he was left in his mindless, ape-like state, allowing Shiozaki the chance to use her vines and immobilize her opponent.

In the spectator stands of Classes 1-A and 1-B, many of them were shocked by how quickly the battle had ended. For one student in Class 1-B, he took this overwhelmingly easy victory for Shiozaki as the perfect chance to mock Class 1-A.

"Guess he was right: that fight really was over in only two seconds!" Monoma peered over the small wall separating both classes with a derisive smile on his face. "I'm thinking that his actual quirk is the ability to tell the future! I thought Class 1-A was supposed to be so much better than us!" The blonde-haired teenager laughed in the faces of Class 1-A, but before he could mock the class any further, Kendo came in and chopped him on the neck, knocking him out.

"Sorry 'bout him," said Kendo, though that was not the only thing that she had to say to Class 1-A. Well, more specifically, to the bowl-haired student of their class. "Since I've got your attention now, Kageyama, I've gotta give you credit for your performance in the cavalry battle. Your shield really was something else: even my strongest attack wasn't able to scratch it."

"Oh..."

"But I also really liked the speech you gave at the beginning. It really sounded like you were trying to speak to everyone there." This compliment proved to be significantly more impactful for the esper than his performance in the cavalry battle. A few of the other classmates of Class 1-B chimed in, being in agreement with Kendo's statement. Even Tetsutetsu, who was one of the students less fond of Class 1-A, silently nodded his head in agreement.

"Yea, that was a cool speech, especially for something that you made up on the spot."

"Oh, come on, you guys!" The blonde teenager regained his consciousness and was in fierce disagreement with Kendo's statement. "He probably just said all that to make his class look better! You don't honestly think he meant all the crap he said, do you?"

Mob frowned: he would never do anything like Monoma said just now. He didn't really care about increasing the reputation of their class, and he especially wouldn't lie with what he said simply to make himself look better. The ginger-haired girl also believed this, and she smiled warmly at the esper. "Yes, I do." Mob's eyes sparkled with appreciation, and he reciprocated her warm smile with his own. Some of the members of Class 1-A were relieved to see that Mob's actions had managed to build up a good rapport with the other classes, mending whatever damage Bakugo might have done with his actions.

While this conversation had been going on, the bob-haired girl had gotten out of her seat, her eyes darkened and her shoulders hunched. Izuku saw this, and he could instantly tell that that was the posture of someone who was scared. The fanboy rushed after her before she could go to her match, and the bowl-haired esper decided to follow suit.

"Hold on, Uraraka!" The bob-haired teenager stopped when she heard the sound of her friend calling to her. When she turned around, they could see the hint of fear lingering in her eyes. "Are you feeling afraid for your match against Iida?"

Uraraka awkwardly rubbed her arm and moved her eyes to the floor. "To be honest, a little. I mean, Iida's a really good friend of mine, but I know he's really skilled and quick, and I don't think he's gonna hold back against me. It's not as scary as it would be if I was against someone like Bakugo, but still, my nerves are pretty shot right now."

"I can see what you mean, Uraraka..." The green-haired teenager knew this would not be an easy match for Uraraka. She needed to have some sort of strategy in mind if she wanted to get an edge over Iida, especially since he was so skilled. Luckily for her, he happened to have a guide with intricate details and information about the quirks of their classmates and other heroes, which he pulled out from his back pocket. "You've done so much for me, Uraraka, so I'd like to try and pay you back. I managed to put together a brief plan on how you could use your quirk against Iida."

"That's great!" said Kageyama. The girl smiled with appreciation, but alas, she could not accept this help.

"That's really awesome of you to do, Deku, but I can't." Both friends drew short breaths of surprise. "You're both wonderful guys, as you keep showing me over and over. But during the cavalry battle, I started to wonder if I've been relying on you to get by. It's why... I have to win this for myself, using only my own power and my own plan." The bubbly girl continued to walk, but for a brief moment, she turned her head back to face her friends with a shaky smile on her face. "I'll see you in the finals."

With a thumbs-up, the bob-haired girl went off to her match, leaving the two friends to absorb her words and her resolve to do her best. "That was a really bold move from her," the psychic said.

"It was," replied Midoriya, "She's determined to win this, just like the rest of us. Whoever wins the next battle, I just hope that both of them give it their all and show everyone that they deserve to be at this school." The two friends returned to their class and took their seats, and while they were waiting for Iida and Uraraka to go through their exits, Midoriya decided to take some quick notes on Shiozaki, doing his signature mumbling about everything he'd witnessed in the fight. While this annoyed some people like Bakugo, it only brought a smile to Kageyama, for this was a clear example of how driven his friend was to learning everything he could about being a hero, taking in new information from all these different students and heroes.

In no time at all, the fourth round of the sports festival was being announced by Present Mic, and the crowd cheered as Uraraka and Iida made their way to the ring. The students of Class 1-A were all wondering how things would turn out, whether this would be a short or drawn-out match, and what kind of fighting would be shown by the two competitors.

In the center of the the ring, the bob-haired teenager still couldn't shake off her nerves. Iida could see this, and immediately did his best to try and lessen her fear. After all, they were very close friends. "Uraraka, I want you to know that you are still a very close friend. Even though we may be opponents for this match, I will still fight you with honor and respect." The spectacled teenager bowed his head in respect, which caused Uraraka to let out a short chuckle. Even now, Iida still maintained his very respectful and honorable demeanor. But still, they were both going to be fighting with everything they had, and no amount of friendship would change that.

"Let's begin the fourth match!" With his thunderous voice, Present Mic declared the match that the match between Uraraka and Iida commence.

* * *

**There we go! The matches for the sports festival have been decided, and now the fourth match between Iida and Uraraka has begun! To be perfectly honest, I don't really care about this fight that much, and I'm only doing it since I have to. A part of me was really bummed out that I had to take out this important character arc for Uraraka, but I've got plans for Bakugo and Kageyama, so this was how it had to go, and Iida was the only other person I could think of who could make a decent fight against Uraraka.**

**Also, I've decided to significantly shorten parts of the canon revolving around Izuku after seeing some reviews complaining about that. I'll still try to have at least some of those moments for Midoriya, but I'll try to either retell the story of only focus on it through Kageyama's perspective to make things less predictable and give people a reason to read it instead of just skim through it. **

**Anyway, wait to see how things go with this fourth match and how the final round between Kageyama and Bakugo is going to unfold!**


	19. A Fiery Temper

"Let the fourth match begin!"

The bob-haired girl decided to go on the offensive and started sprinting toward her opponent. She knew her best bet was to try and use her quirk to float Iida out of the ring, the strategy with the easiest solution, for there was little else she could utilize her quirk for to form an advantage. All she would have to do is find an opening to exploit to ensure her victory.

The speedy teenager swiftly dodged his opponent's hand movements and pushed himself back in an evasive manner. The bob-haired girl's eyes hardened, and she continued to do her best to tag Iida with her quirk, but the blue-haired teenager was proving himself to be too quick, his reflexes too sharp for Uraraka to properly touch.

"And the round starts with a fierce attack from Uraraka, but Iida's still holding strong, using his awesome speed to keep up against his opponent!"

In the stand, many of the students could see how easily Iida was managing Uraraka's swipes and other attacks. Midoriya and Kageyama were frowning: it was difficult to decide who they wanted to win more, for both of them were friends who held equal value in their hearts. All either of them could hope for was that both of them could prove what they were capable of.

While the spectacled teenager was continuing to dodge Uraraka's attacks, he was computing a countermeasure in his mind and trying to think of the best way to take care of Uraraka without causing too much damage to her. At the moment, the best option that he had in mind was to push her out of the ring. That was the strategy that had the easiest solution and would not force him to use very lethal force against his friend.

So while the the bob-haired teenager attempted another swipe at Iida, he swatted her hand away, activating his engines and proceeding to grab her by the shoulders in an attempt to push her out. It appeared to be working at first, and he managed to get her only feet away from the edge of the ring. But before he could get her to the edge of the ring, he saw the girl reach her hand out, trying to take advantage of his close proximity, and she was indeed extremely close to grazing him with her fingers.

"I apologize for this, Uraraka!" Unfortunately for her, even at such proximity, the teenager was fast enough to counter, using his engines to engage in a back flip and kicking her square in the chin, causing her to let out a grunt of pain.

"And Iida lands a devastating kick to Uraraka's chin!" shouted Present Mic, "A close call for Iida, but he manages to get out of there just in the nick of time!"

The mutant-quirk teenager let out an internal sigh of relief: that had been too close for comfort. Any attempts to push her out of the ring would be affected by her quirk and the close proximity, which meant that he had to find a way to somehow take her quirk out of the picture, perhaps find a way to ensure that Uraraka's hands couldn't reach him, make it more difficult for her to reach out towards him. And he'd need to be faster too.

In Uraraka's mind, she was struggling to figure out what her next move would be. Iida's reflexes were proving to be too impressive for her to handle, and there weren't many other ways for her to use her quirk. There was nothing around her to lift into the air to use against him. And yet, she couldn't just give up! She owed it to her parents to try as hard as she could to win this sports festival! So she'd keep on going with her assault, no matter what!

Uraraka screamed with the determination to stand victorious, but before she could even take a step, the speedy teenager's engines began to burst with a fiery trail, and Iida blitzed behind her.

"Recipro Burst!"

The girl barely had time to process what was happening: she felt him grabbing the back of her shirt. What followed next was a series of rapid spins, acelerated by his quirk. The speed at which he was throwing her and the position from which she was being held made it impossible for Uraraka to reach her arms around to touch him. The students were surprised to see a sudden burst of speed from Iida: he'd never displayed this kind of speed watched the way in which Uraraka was rendered helpless, being spun around helpless. After several spins, Iida felt he'd gained enough momentum and used that momentum to toss her out of the ring, and the girl was helpless to stop herself from flying through the air.

"Uraraka has been knocked out of bounds! Iida advances to the second round!" The crowd's energy burst up, while a few of the students of Class 1-A were uncertain of how to feel of this victory, especially Kageyama and Midoriya. Iida's speed was simply too much for her to handle, and even her quirk wasn't enough to help her create a proper defense against it.

"Have any of you ever seen Iida move so fast before?" said Kaminari.

"Never," replied Ojiro.

The bob-haired girl was splayed on the ground, her senses knocked off-balance by the high speed at which she'd been thrown around. She was having a hard time getting up, but as expected of someone so respectful and noble, Iida quickly rushed to his friend's side. "Let me help you up, Uraraka."

Uraraka accepted Iida's hand to help herself up, but she couldn't hide the rushing emotions of shame and defeat that were beginning to prick sharply on her tongue. "What was that speed?" said Uraraka.

"I forced my torque and RPM into overdrive, which gave me explosive power, though it stalls my engines for a while. No one in the class knew about it: I was saving it up for the right time, and you forced me to use it in order to gain the edge over you." The spectacled teenager extended his courtesy and respectfully bowed to his opponent. "It was a well-fought match."

Uraraka still could not hide the building shame and disappointment of her loss, and her voice was only above a whisper when she thanked Iida for the compliment before silently walking out of the arena. In the stands, both Kageyama and Midoriya were saddened by the events that had transpired, for they both knew of the dream that Uraraka was holding onto, the thing that was motivating her to become a hero. They remembered the words she'd said to them both just before going off to her match: that she'd see them in the finals.

After a few minutes, the fifth match between Aoyama and Ashido was announced, and the two competitors prepared for their fight. A short while after, Iida returned to the spectator stand, where a few of the people were curious as to the burst of speed, and Iida gave the same explanation he gave Uraraka, as well as the backlash that came with the increase of speed, which was his engines stalling for a short period of time.

"Hey, where's Uraraka?" said Yaoyorozu, "Did you see where she went?"

"I saw her going into the waiting room. She said that she needed to talk to her parents, so I think she won't join us for a little bit."

Upon hearing this, the two friends decided to simply wait and let her speak to her parents, even though both were planning on going in and consoling her over her loss. Her parents must've been eager to call her, since they undoubtedly were watching the sports festival. So they decided to sit and watch the fifth round of the sports festival play out. While this was happening, the bob-haired teenager finally returned to the spectator stand, though several of the students of Class 1-A were taken aback by her eyes, as though they'd been drained of their liquid.

"Something horrible's happened to your eyes," said Iida, "You need to see Recovery Girl!"

"Oh, this is from... something else," replied Uraraka. Upon sitting down, Kageyama and Midoriya immediately approached her to give her their words of consolation.

"Thanks, you two," replied the girl.

Watching the way Uraraka had cried her eyes out, Iida grimaced, feeling a pit of guilt in his stomach. Even though he wanted to win, it still hurt him to know that he'd defeated his friend in such a manner, that she couldn't have advanced further. "If I were in your shoes, I'd be frustrated too, Uraraka," the spectacled teenager said, "I'm sorry."

Sitting beside them, Tokoyami did not mince his words so kindly. "There's no time to wallow in misery and regret now. Use these following fights as a source of encouragement and learning."

Uraraka nodded her head in agreement, her bubbly and optimistic nature allowing her to take his words to heart, while Iida was impressed by his words of wisdom, openly validating his words as such. They all then sat in silence and watched as the battle between Aoyama and Ashido continued. The male student fired a volley of energy beams from his stomach, but Ashido was able to deftly dodge all of the blasts with grace before spraying his outfit with acid, causing his pants to drop down as well as damage his belt, and giving her the chance to finish him off with a fierce uppercut.

After the fifth round ended, the next two that were up were Yaoyorozu and Tokoyami. As expected, Kageyama wished both of them luck for their matches, though to tell the truth, the esper also didn't know who he wanted to win more, similar to the battle against Uraraka and Iida. He was close to both of them, and even though he hadn't shared as many moments with Tokoyami, he was still the one who fought alongside him in the U.S.J., and the one who'd also waited for him after his fight with the Nomu, so he was still a friend.

"Hey Midoriya," said Kageyama, "I want to know how you think this battle is going to end."

"Well..." The fanboy looked in his notebook to see everything he'd learned about both of their quirks. "Timing is going to be the key thing here."

Ojiro decided to pop in on their conversation, for he was also curious about how this match would play out between them. "How so?"

"Well, Tokoyami's Dark Shadow possesses amazing speed and power, and it can also be used for a variety of purposes, which means that Yaoyorozu's gonna have to find a way to create an opening to attack Tokoyami, since it's him that has to be taken out of bounds. If he can find a way to engage him in close combat, she might have the edge, since I don't think Tokoyami's all that strong physically. Still, that's easier said than done..."

The d.j. hero performed another riveting and thrilling introduction for the two competitors, but as they were on the ring, the female teenager's eyes were not focused and determined like Tokoyami's were, and she was rubbing her arm with unease. She knew of how formidable Tokoyami's quirk was, and was unsure if she had the necessary power to stand up against it, for its defense and offensive power were a force to be reckoned with. If she could make a shield, she could block all of his attacks, but still, she had to be quick on her feet, or else this fight would be over in seconds.

"Begin!"

"Come forth, Dark Shadow!" The avian student made the first moved and called upon his creature of the darkness, which quickly rushed over towards Yaoyorozu. She made a shield as she'd planned, but even so, Dark Shadow was able to easily toss her around. The creature focused its strikes on Yaoyorozu's shield, and its power was too much for her to retaliate against. After several of these strikes, Dark Shadow suddenly stopped its assault, perplexing Tokoyami's opponent. Still, she saw it as the chance she'd been waiting for, and formed a spear to counterattack.

"Yaoyorozu is out of bounds! Tokoyami advances to the next round!" The girl gasped in surprise, then looked down to see that her foot was sticking out of bounds. She'd been defeated without even getting the chance to show what she could do.

"Tokoyami is way too powerful..." The green-haired teenager was in awe at the way Yaoyorozu had been so thoroughly overtaken, "He focused his attacks on her shield and forced her out of bounds."

"Maybe he didn't want to hurt her," suggested Ojiro.

"Yea, I think so," replied Kageyama, "Tokoyami wouldn't be so violent. He's a very respectful individual. Still, she didn't even get to show off what she could do. She must be feeling so disappointed..." The esper's heart went out to her just as it had gone out to others. He didn't really blame Tokoyami, since he was only trying to win, and had even bowed in respect once the match had ended, just as Iida had done with Uraraka after their match had ended, but a loss was still a loss, and this had been a very unfortunate one for Yaoyorozu.

_89%_

Upon returning to the spectator stand, all of the students could detect the palpable sense of agony emanating from Yaoyorozu, and a few of them attempted to console him, the biggest ones being Kageyama and Jirou. Yaoyorozu felt her female friend's hand on her shoulder, while Kageyama was at her side, giving his sympathy to her.

"I'm really sorry, Yaoyorozu," said Jirou.

"I wish you'd gotten more of a chance to prove yourself," added Kageyama.

_91%_

Yaoyorozu momentarily held Jirou's hand, and mustered up whatever she could to give a small smile of appreciation back to her friends, though the smile quickly faded, and her eyes went back to the ground, and she had no voice to give her classmates.

Shortly after, the seventh round began, and Present Mic gave the introductions for Tetsutetsu and Kirishima, though both of them were practically identical, which was fitting for the fact that both of them had nearly identical quirks. The two competitors also noticed this similarity and found it greatly annoying, since both of them wanted to use this sports festival as a chance to stand out.

"Can't wait to see how this one ends!" shouted Present Mic, "Begin!" The two teenagers roared with determination, and the two of them activated their quirks before fiercely clashing their fists. Due to their similar quirks and manly nature, Kirshima and Tetsutetsu fought with all they had, attempting to give neither opponent an inch in their fight. Furthermore, because of those similar quirks and the hardened substance surrounding both students, it was difficult for the attacks of either opponent to significantly stun the other, and because of this, their fight was dragging on for quite a while, far longer than any of the battles thus far.

After several minutes of this long battle, the two were finally pushed to the limits of their quirks, and after final punches to both of their cheeks, Kirishima and Tetsutetsu lost consciousness and fell on the ground simultaneously. Midnight approached both students, declaring that this match was a tie and that a tiebreaker would be done after the eighth match, most likely an arm-wrestling match.

But now that the seventh match had finally come to an end, that meant the eighth match was on the horizon, the match that every single person in the stadium was waiting for.

"Kageyama, your time's finally up!" said Kaminari.

"I wish you well in your battle, Kageyama," Tokoyami remarked.

"Go get'em!" Uraraka said with boisterous energy.

"I'll try..." The esper got out of his seat and began to exit the spectator stand, while Bakugo was also exiting through the same path. As they exchanged glances with one another, Bakugo's intimidating aura and fiery gaze unnerved the psychic, and he gulped.

"You're dead." These were the only words that Bakugo had to say to his opponent before the two of them headed in opposite directions. As the explosive teenager continued walking through the hallway, his thoughts were only on the battle, the chance he would have to rectify his first loss against the esper.

The images of his loss were vivid in his mind: those red eyes, burning with a smoldering anger. The shy, weak-willed nerd had absolutely vanished in that moment, replaced by the vicious, hardened warrior that laid dormant inside. That experience had made Bakugo feel something unlike anything before, something that not even his fight with Deku had managed to elicit. With Deku's fight, the loss was bad because it was at the hands of someone who'd always been weaker than him. But against Kageyama, it had been sheer, total domination. It was the feeling of helplessness, of having no power against an opponent, of knowing that the enemy could end your life with a single thought if so desired, and knowing you could do nothing to stop it.

_"Was that supposed to be an attack?"_

_"That barely counts as a tickle."_

_"Since you didn't get the message the last two times, let me make this crystal clear: if you ever hurt Midoriya the way you did today again, I'll make sure you feel the full weight of this unyielding rage."_

The way Kageyama didn't even blink at his explosions, the way he absolutely manhandled Bakugo and threw him around like an old rag doll, those images were burned into his mind. Without even realizing it, Bakugo's body began to tremble, and as soon as it did, Bakugo immediately stopped in place.

"What the hell? Why am I trembling? Am I..." The teenager did not even want to finish that sentence, for saying it out loud would be to admit it was true, and Bakugo refused to admit this. He did not want to accept this feeling, he just wanted to get rid of it.

"I have to win this! I have to get rid of this feeling, prove that I'm the best, that even Kageyama can't beat me!" The explosive teenager attempted to smile to give him a sense of self-confidence, reignite his fiery passion, and yet that could not mask his growing emotions of fear and doubt. Bakugo was facing a truly high hurdle for this sports festival.

* * *

"Alright, all you eager fans out there, after seven intense matches, we come to the final match of the first bracket, and if I'm being honest, this is the one I've been the most excited about! And I'd say the audience agrees!" This statement was proven to be true when the crowd roared with fervor and intensity much higher than any of the previous matches. All of them were eager to see in what way Kageyama would impress them, use his quirk against Katsuki, and in their minds, they already felt that Kageyama would win, no matter what Bakugo tried.

The number one hero observed from the teacher's stand, supremely confident in the esper's ability to attain victory. Bakugo may have had some sort of trick against Kageyama, possibly, but no matter what kind of tricks the explosive teenager may have had, it would likely not be enough to get the edge over Mob.

"On the right side! He was kind of a hot-shot in middle school, and just look at that determined face! From the hero course, Katsuki Bakugo!"

"On the left side, we have the lightning-fast psychic who blitzed through the obstacle course, who can lift building-sized robots like he was lifting pebbles, and who can surround himself with basically impenetrable barriers! Shigeo Kageyama!" The esper was astounded by the thunderous applause throughout the stadium when his name was announced. It seemed like he'd made quite the impression with the audience, just as All Might had hoped for.

"Like I said, I'm gonna murder you in front of the whole world!" shouted Bakugo, "And that crowd's gonna be cheering for me once I've finished kicking your ass!" Bakugo's comments could be heard by everyone in the stadium, and many of them scowled at the course, unfiltered harshness coming out of his mouth. A few of the students in Class 1-B were annoyed by his behavior, seeing it as exactly the high-and-mighty attitude they had believed Class 1-A to possess.

"God, that guy's such a tool," said Tetsutetsu, "I'm rooting for Kageyama."

In the adjacent spectator stand of Class 1-A, many of the students were equally eager to see how this round would play out.

"Bakugo seems to have been waiting for this moment for quite some time," Iida noted, "Kageyama is an obstacle he desperately wants to overcome."

"But do you really think he can?" said Tsu, "Kageyama's just got so much power and skill at his disposal, and if he gets serious, then Bakugo's not gonna stand a chance."

"The match has not been told yet, so it would be unwise to automatically assume that Kageyama will win this," said Tokoyami, trying to be practical despite knowing of Kageyama's incredible strength, "Perhaps Bakugo has some sort of strategy in mind."

"I can definitely see that being the case," Midoriya remarked, "Though I'm curious how Kageyama's gonna fight. He's not a vicious fighter like Bakugo. He's probably gonna try and hold back, though by how much I'm not too sure."

Midoriya's assumption was correct: in the esper's mind, he didn't want to make this an instant elimination. After all, even Bakugo deserved the chance to show what he could do, and Kageyama could take his explosions. Despite what Bakugo had demanded of him, he simply couldn't call upon that anger as he asked of him.

"Let the eighth match begin!"

The first move of the round was made by Shigeo. The esper brought his hand up and proceeded to lift several of the tiles off of the ground and threw them at Bakugo. His hands ignited, and with his lightning-fast reflexes, he proceeded to destroy all of the tiles thrown at him with minimal effort. Bakugo decided to go on the offensive and sprinted forward, using his explosions to propel himself forward at startling speed which Kageyama was not anticipating. The esper continued to try and throw more tiles at his opponent, though Bakugo was still able to expertly dodge or destroy the tiles. Then, with unbridled ferocity, Katsuki unleashed a powerful explosion, but Kageyama created a barrier to block the blow.

"And Kageyama erects his powerful barrier! Will Bakugo be able to break through it, or will the barrier hold like it did during the cavalry battle?"

The teenager did not relent, however, and unleashed a series of powerful explosions which clashed against the barrier. "I finally found a flaw with your quirk!" The crowd silently gasped when Bakugo made this proclamation. Kageyama had a weakness? "During the cavalry battle, there was one time where I saw you drop your barrier: when you were lifting your team. The only reason you would ever drop your barrier during that fight is if you had to, which means that you can't attack and defend with your powers simultaneously!"

Present Mic narrated this revelation with a tone of mild shock and suspense in his voice. "So Bakugo has managed to find a flaw in Kageyama's seemingly flawless quirk, but will this change the tide of the battle? In what way will this flaw give Bakugo an edge in this fight?" Though it may have seemed to some that this was not a particularly fatal flaw for the esper, they would soon find that it had a few more implications than they have have realized. Even now, despite Bakugo's consistent barrage of explosions, the esper's barrier was still holding for more than ten seconds of explosions. But as the seconds passed, the audience began to notice that the explosions were beginning to increase in size and potency, enveloping a larger area of the stage. For those who were unfamiliar with the fundamentals of Bakugo's quirk, this would be confusing, but the students of Class 1-A understood what was happening.

The explosive teenager smiled with wicked glee: this was a plan that he'd thought of in preparation for Kageyama's fight, after observing everything he'd seen about his quirk. In order to give a serious challenge to Kageyama, he'd need to use all his skills and power he had in his disposal. His regular explosions hadn't even left a scratch when he was angry, so he'd have to kick up the force of his explosions by several notches, which was why he'd done some active exercises just before the match to kick up an initial degree of sweat, though he would not admit that part of the building sweat was from nervousness and fear. Compounded with the sweat building up from his rapid arm movements and the intensity of this fight, Bakugo would be able to get a decisive victory.

Finally, Kageyama's barriers were proven to the world that they were breakable, and the barrier was shattered into dozens of pieces as Bakugo's explosion tore through and sent the esper flying across the ring. Mob stopped himself using his telekinesis, though not before the hot-headed teenager was up at him again, propelling himself at a much faster speed thanks to the increased kick of his explosions. He sent himself flying up into the air, then he used his explosion to propel himself down with one hand, while preparing an extremely powerful blast in his other hand. The esper put up a very quick and hastily made barrier, though Bakugo's explosion was much more potent than before, being enough to envelop the entire ring and actually managed to break through the barrier, sending Mob sprawling across the ring, though the explosion caused a throbbing pain through Bakugo's arm. The crowd shouted with excitement, feeling impressed that Bakugo had been able to break through the barrier and that he was able to hold his own against such a formidable opponent.

After getting back on his feet, Mob decided to try and send Katsuki out of bounds with a strong telekinetic blast. Bakugo felt himself being blown away, and was being rapidly sent to the edge of the ring. The crowd felt their hairs stand up with anticipation: was Bakugo going to be sent out of bounds?

Fortunately for Bakugo, the teenager was able to stop himself from being blown away by firing his explosions in the opposite direction, the force managing to nullify the momentum being built and allowing him to land a few feet away from the edge of the ring.

"And Bakugo narrowly avoids being thrown out of the ring with those powerful explosions! Man, this match isn't going as I thought it would. Bakugo's not half-bad."

"Bakugo's using his skills and proper thinking to keep himself in the ring and put his opponent on the edge." While Eraserhead and Present Mic were giving praise to the hot-headed teenager, Bakugo was beginning to feel his blood boil. Those attacks from Kageyama had been far too nice, and his facial expression hadn't changed at all.

"Goddamn it, Kageyama! I told you to stop screwing around!" yelled Bakugo, "You wanna know what's gonna happen if you underestimate me? I'll kill you!"

_92%_

The esper's face began to morph into uneasiness: Bakugo had this unwavering desire to prove that he was better than everyone, a belief that was especially strong toward Kageyama.

"There's not gonna be any doubt that I'm the fucking best one here, and that can't be done if you're not giving it your all and acting like you wanna destroy me!"

_93%_

The explosive teenager was not pleased when he saw his opponent's face only grow more uneasy and unsure: hell, his words seemed to be having the opposite effect of what he wanted. He had to find a way to incite some more anger inside the bowl-cuts heart, and he was pretty sure he knew just the way to do it.

"Either way, there's no way you're gonna make it as a top hero! You may have a strong quirk, but at the end of the day, deep down, you're just a loser, like Deku!" The explosive teenager smirked when he saw Kageyama's nostrils begin to flare upon hearing Deku's name mentioned in a negative fashion like that. "That damn herd may have gotten a lucky victory against me, but that doesn't change the fact that he's still a pathetic weakling at heart! And once I kick your ass, I'll be sure to destroy him once I make it to the finals! Nah, even that's jumping the gun: there's no way he'll even make it past the second round!"

Many of the spectators viewed the teenager's actions as disgusting: insulting a classmate simply to get him to fight at his best, slandering another classmate's name. The students of Class 1-A were also aggravated by the way Bakugo was attempting to provoke Kageyama, as well as the way he was devaluing Midoriya.

"Don't listen to what Bakugo's saying, Deku," said Uraraka.

"No, I'm fine," replied Midoriya, for he was more concerned about how Kageyama would be reacting to this. As the people were anticipating, the esper felt a rising sense of anger toward Bakugo. This fight didn't have anything to do with Midoriya, and yet he was still bringing him up, still insulting Midoriya's name and everything he'd done to make it this far. How dare Bakugo say that Midoriya's win was only lucky, that he was still a loser at heart! He'd beaten Bakugo through perseverance, skill, and physical abilities, and yet he still refused to acknowledge that victory as impressive or giving it the merit it deserved. Now he was getting angry!

_97%_

The psychic's hair began to stand up, and several very large boulders were being lifted from the ring. Bakugo's battle smile showed itself: now this was what he was talking about! Now he was starting to get the message through to the bowl cut!

"And things are beginning to go up-tempo!" said Present Mic, "Looks like Kageyama's not fooling around anymore!"

"Bakugo might get his wish after all," added Eraserhead.

The esper threw the large boulders at his opponent, though he was more than ready. He rushed his enemy once again, managing to obliterate the large boulders with his powerful explosions while making his way toward Kageyama. "Now this is mo-" The teenager's sentence was cut off when Kageyama disappeared from his sight and reappeared behind him. Bakugo gasped: that speed was incredible! He couldn't even see him move! The esper grabbed the teenager by the back of his shirt and threw him across the ring. The teenager once again stopped himself from being thrown out of the stage, though it was too close for comfort, as he only landed a few inches away from the edge of the ring.

Bakugo internally frowned: though his eyes weren't red, he could feel a pressure growing around the ring very similar to the confrontation he had during the battle trial. That meant that Kageyama was fighting seriously or at the least getting close to exploding with anger. Bakugo had to play it smarter then: he had to find a way to somehow incapacitate Kageyama for a moment before delivering the finishing blow, his ultimate attack he'd been preparing just for this sports festival. As much as he hated to admit it, he couldn't hope to match Kageyama in strength or speed, so a drawn-out match between them wouldn't be possible. That meant he had to end it in a single blow. But he had to make sure to attack when he was vulnerable: if he used his barrier to defend himself, the impact of his attack would significantly decrease, and it wouldn't be enough to send him out of the ring. No, there had to be a way to disorient him, give Bakugo an opening to exploit, and he had just the move to do it.

Bakugo propelled himself forward with his explosions, and the esper anticipated another string of explosions, so he put up another barrier, but he was soon to find out that Bakugo had another plan in-mind. Katsuki stopped right in front of Kageyama and put his hands together. In the center of his hands, multiple explosions were being formed, and Bakugo opened his palms to unleash those explosions against Kageyama.

"Stun Grenade!"

The explosions created a blinding light that illuminated the entire ring and caused the esper to drop his barrier as he clutched his eyes in pain. "I can't see!"

_99%_

"Now's my chance!" Bakugo shot himself up into the air, where he began to use his explosions to propel himself in a circular motion. The rapid spinning began to form a twister, which collected oxygen and gained momentum to fuel the explosion which was about to follow next. The teenager wickedly smiled to himself: this was it! This was the time he'd finally take the victory he needed!

"Howitzer Impact!"

The explosive teenager proceeded to release the enhanced blast at a point-blank range on Kageyama's chest, for he didn't have any fear of killing Kageyama because he knew how durable he was, how he managed to hold his own against the Nomu, an insanely strong opponent. The force of the blast was enormous: the entire ring was enveloped in the explosion, and the radius of the blast nearly managed to reach the spectators. Everyone in the stadium felt the tremendous heat and pressure emanating from this insanely powerful explosion, as well as the cloud of smoke covering the ring.

"Bakugo combines speed and rotation with a huge blast and turned himself into a human missile, striking Kageyama at a point-blank range."

"He also used his stun grenade as a way to disorient Kageyama, knowing that his barrier would likely provide him enough protection to at least keep him inside the ring, allowing him to land the finishing blow."

The d.j. hero began to grow worried: no one could take an explosion like that point-blank without serious injury. What was Bakugo thinking?

"But what the heck is up with Bakugo? Dealing a blast like that at such a short range? What's become of Kageyama?"

Everyone in the audience was at the edge of their seats, all of them desperately waiting for the smoke to clear, to see what had become of the two competitors, if Kageyama had been taken out as they assumed. The students of Class 1-A all felt a sense of growing anticipation and dread: they just couldn't be sure that Kageyama would have been able to make it through that unscathed. Even All Might and Izuku were unsure of who could be the victor here. So who was it? Who was there to claim victory?

The smoke began to clear, and as soon as it did, everyone felt their jaws drop to the floor: standing in the exact same place as before stood Kageyama, and keeping him floating only inches apart was Bakugo, who looked as though a train had hit him.

Present Mic was too shocked to give a proper response at first, as was Eraserhead or really anyone else in the stadium. After a few seconds, the announcer managed to regain his voice and narrate what had just happened.

"It looks like Kageyama is still standing. Even after taking the force of a missile, he's somehow able to withstand it without a scratch on him. Is he indestructible or what?"

The spectators of the stadium were expressing their disbelief. "How could anyone be so durable?"

"Just what the hell is this kid made of?"

In the spectator stand of Class 1-A and Class 1-B, many of the students were seeing the esper in a new image, an image of invulnerability. This was a student who was on an entirely different playing field than the rest of them, and even Midoriya was beginning to see what All Might meant when he said that the esper was already near his level. Only someone like All Might could possibly tank an explosion like that.

As everyone in the arena was trying to wrap their heads around what they were seeing, in the ring, the two competitors were still and quiet.

"No..." The explosive teenager felt as though all the blood in his body had run cold, frozen up. Kageyama was still standing, as if the blast he'd experienced had been nothing. Not only that, but he was trying to break free of the psychic grip, and just like before, the teenager was absolutely immobile, at the mercy of Kageyama. As the teenager floated in the air, he felt the same immense pressure he'd felt before when Kageyama had gotten angry, but something about this was... different. As he looked into his opponent's eyes, he could see there was no anger or hatred dancing inside, but...

_100% Disappointment_

Though the explosive teenager had gotten what he'd wished for when he asked for Kageyama to give this fight 100%, it wasn't quite the 100% he was expecting. No, as Bakugo began to ignite his final move and the teenager began to regain his vision, for some reason, the esper thought of their last confrontation, his desire to stand better than everyone and put down everyone to prove his superiority. He then compared that battle to the battle that was going on right now, and saw how similar they were.

"Someone once told me that some people never change, no matter how many chances you give them." Kageyama's voice was soft, not much louder than a whisper, preventing the audience from listening in to their conversation. "I'm starting to think that you might be one of those people."

"I mean, what's changed with you? You don't even remember the names of your classmates or their quirks, showing how lowly you think of them, how you're only thinking of yourself. You still don't show any respect towards Midoriya, despite everything he's done to make it here, and your only interest is still proving everyone is worse than you, proving you still judge people based solely on power. You haven't taken anything I've said to heart."

The esper scoffed and shrugged his shoulders with frustration. "I don't get it. Hanazawa was just like you, but he changed. So why can't you?" Kageyama sighed. "I have no idea what it could be."

Shigeo knew this fight was already over, and he decided to use one of Midoriya's moves to finish the fight, for he knew it was possible with the power surging through him. For the audience, they thought they couldn't get many more surprises from the esper, that he'd already shown what he was really capable, but they were sorely mistaken: with a simple flick of his finger, the esper unleashed a powerful blast of air which dissipated all of the smoke from Bakugo's explosion and sent the teenager flying through the air. Bakugo tried to repeat the same opposite propelling motions, but this time, the force of Kageyama's blast was too powerful, and he was sent out of the ring and onto the grass.

"Bakugo is out of bounds! Kageyama advances to the next round!" The stadium burst in a fiery frenzy of applause and cheering, far greater than anything before. As they'd anticipated, the esper managed to stand victorious, though he displayed abilities that even they were not anticipating.

"And Kageyama takes victory with a powerful air blast! Is Kageyama's quirk simply the greatest of all time? I'd say so!"

"Did you see what he just did," a spectator said, "He created that huge wind blast with only a flick of his finger."

"It's the same move that that other kid used at the beginning, though he seems fine after the attack."

"This kid... he's probably gonna make it to the top ten after he graduates. Hell, he might even take the number two spot away from Endeavor."

The students of Class 1-A stood even more baffled than they were before, as if that was even possible.

"Did you see what Kageyama just did," said Sero, "He blew Bakugo away with only a flick of his fingers."

"It kinda reminds me of your move, Midoriya," said Tsu, "Except..."

"Except he doesn't break his fingers when he does it, I know." The green-haired teenager looked down at his bandaged fingers, then back at his friend in the ring. Yet again, Midoriya was being shown the astronomical difference in strength between the two of them. Despite the fact that both of them had been trusted by All Might to win this sports festival, it was becoming more and more clear that Kageyama would be the victor if they fought. He just had so much more going for him, so much more power and control at his disposal that Izuku couldn't hope to compete with right now...

"Yo, Bakugo's totally freaking out," said Mineta, "Check it." The students and the audience looked down to see how Bakugo was reacting to his loss, and boy-o-boy, it wasn't pretty. Katsuki was crouched on the floor, his entire body trembling with anger, frustration, sadness, so many negative emotions.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!"

The student slammed the ground with his fist repeatedly, exploding the ground, and before he knew it, tears of frustration were beginning to flow down Bakugo's face. Bakugo continued screaming like a little infant throwing a tantrum despite the fact that the next match was going to be following soon. Watching from the ring with the emotion of disappointment still coursing through him, Kageyama reacted to this display in with harsh judgement and criticism, folding his arms together, an act that was very uncharacteristic for the gentle and understanding esper.

When Bakugo's head lifted up, the world got to see the ugly, distorted face of Bakugo and all the tears of frustration flowing down his face, and when he saw the esper's expression, those folded arms and that disapproving look on his face, he just lost it. That was the one thing he absolutely could not stand more than anything else: being looked down upon.

"DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT, YOU-" The teenager's consciousness began to fade, for the dominatrix hero had decided to make a move, activating her quirk and surrounding the air around Bakugo with a sleeping gas, until he fell back to the ground unconscious.

"Oh, looks like Midnight had to intervene after Bakugo freaked out with Kageyama's stern, disapproving expression," said Present Mic, "Though I'm with Kageyama there: insulting classmates like that to get a rise out of your opponent isn't cool. It's a cheap shot."

Many of the spectators agreed with Present Mic's commentary, and showed disdain at the pathetic attitude Bakugo was displaying over his loss.

"Wow, Bakugo's such a drama queen," said Monoma, "He's whining and crying about his loss like a little baby. I guess all the students of Class 1-A are a bunch of sore losers like he is."

"Yea, just shows what an asshole Bakugo is," Tetsutetsu continued.

The esper stood in silence as medical bots came with a stretcher to wheel the teenager out of the ring. Shigeo closed his eyes and let out a hefty sigh: even though the esper had won this fight and advanced to the next round, it wasn't a truly fulfilling victory for him, or a true victory in general. He felt as though nothing had been accomplished, that history had just repeated itself and Bakugo would remain as self-centered and inconsiderate as always. But that wasn't what he wanted: he wanted to be friends with him. He wanted to help Bakugo become a better person, and yet he refused to accept anything he'd told him.

Kageyama stuffed his hands inside his pockets and walked out of the ring with his back slightly hunched and his hair still standing up, as the power was taking a bit to dissipate and reset to zero, though basically everyone in the stadium couldn't comprehend what Kageyama was looking so bummed about, adding a bit of mystery to his character for them.

After a few minutes of walking, his power dropped down and reset itself, and his hair went back to its usual shape. Once he made it back to the spectator stand of Class 1-A, he was greeted by rather loud and supportive voices of his classmates.

"Dude, that was a freaking intense match!" said Sato.

"You had me on the edge of my seat the entire time!" added Mineta.

"I just can't believe you were able to tank Bakugo's explosion like that! I swear, you're like a tank yourself!" stated Ashido.

"A truly phenomenal display of power," remarked Tokoyami.

"Thanks," the esper replied before taking his seat next to his friends, where they also patted him on the back and gave him words of praise. As he sat down, though, there was a question on the mind of the frog-like girl.

"Hey Kageyama, what were you talking to Bakugo about near the end of the fight?" she said, "You were speaking too softly for anyone to hear, so I'm wondering what you said to him?"

"Oh..." The esper leaned back in his seat as he recalled that moment the two of them shared on the ring, "I was expressing my frustration for the way he insulted Midoriya, the way he treats the class so poorly. It's just not right."

"I totally see what you mean," said Jirou, "I mean, I get wanting to win, but there's a limit."

"Right?" continued Ashido, "I mean, he didn't even know my name and called me Black Eyes."

"Bakugo is overwhelmingly tenacious," said Iida, "But his one-track mind and disrespectful attitude is indeed wrong, and it should not be condoned in a hero, though he doesn't seem particularly keen on improving his behavior."

"That's right," the esper said with a heavy tone in his voice, "It's unfortunate."

"Hey, check it! The tiebreaker for the seventh match is about to start!" Sero brought their attention to the ring, and the students looked down to see that the tiebreaker was an arm-wrestling match, and both opponents had already taken their places on the opposite ends of a stone block constructed by Cementoss. Midnight waved her hand, and the two of them started their tiebreaker. Both of them were gripping the concrete so hard that the block was fracturing.

"We're about to learn who the true winner of the seventh match is! Kirishima or Tetsutetsu!" yelled Present Mic, "Whoever wins this arm-wrestling match will advance to the second round!"

The two students appeared to be neck-and-neck, neither giving the other an inch, and it was hard to determine who would reign supreme. But then, after great resistance, Tetsutetsu's steel finally hit its limit and began to crack. The student groaned in pain, and Kirishima used this moment to take the victory and slam his opponent's hand down.

The red-haired teenager raised his hand and shouted with triumph, though he did not ignore the heart and spirit his opponent had put into the fight. As Tetsutetsu laid on the ground in defeat, Kirishima held out his hand and complimented his adversary for their well-fought battle, which Tetsutetsu gladly accepted, cementing a bond of friendship and respect between the two of them.

But now that the tiebreaker event was over, that meant that second bracket matches were going to start, and that meant it was Midoriya's turn next. The green-haired fanboy got up from his seat, and the esper was about to get up and join him to see him off, but Izuku stopped him. "You can stay put, Kageyama."

The esper hesitated at first, but decided to let his friend be. "Alright. Just know that I'll be watching you."

"Same goes for me," chimed Uraraka, waving her hand to Midoriya, "Good luck."

"Excel as best you can, Midoriya," Iida said.

The teenager looked at the support his friends gave him and felt his lips begin to slightly tremble. "Sure thing." A few of his other classmates also wished him luck, and he made his way to his fight against Todoroki.

"This is the other match that I've been itching to see," said Kaminari, "Another of the two best students of our class duking it out."

"They do possess extremely powerful quirks which can cause devastating damage," said Yaoyorozu.

"Yea..." Now that the fight with Bakugo had ended, the fear and anxiety that had been building up over the battle with Midoriya and Todoroki was now returning. Even with using only his right side, Todoroki was able to use that ice for so many things and summon so many large ice constructs at incredible speeds. Not only that, but every time Midoriya used One For All, it would break his body, significantly limiting his fighting capacity. So what was Midoriya's plan? How would he find a way to achieve victory?

Shortly after, the two students of Class 1-A walked out of the exits and made their way to the ring, while the audience cheered with exhilaration. Present Mic set the move and gave the introductions for both of the students, while the esper continued looking on in concern.

"Tokoyami, how do you think this match is going to go," said Kageyama, looking to him for an opinion on the battle since Izuku wasn't there to give his input.

"It depends on whether or not Midoriya is going to be able to get close to him," the avian teengaer replied.

"That's the problem," Uraraka noted.

"Come on, Midoriya," thought Kageyama, "Do this. Come out of this on top!"

In the ring, the two opponents took their stances, both ready to dish out their strongest attacks and reign supreme for this match.

"BEGIN!"

* * *

**My Hero Academia/Mob Psycho 100 Ultra Analysis**

**\- The Howitzer Impact used by Bakugo against Mob was stronger than the one used against Todoroki due to building up more sweat and exerting more force.**

**Sadly, Bakugo is an early loser for the one-on-one fights in the sports festival, despite his best efforts. While it may seem like some that I hate the character since I'm bashing on him so hard and giving him so many losses, here's a reason I'm doing this the way I have, and there's gonna be proper character development, I assure you, though to be perfectly honest, I'm not a huge fan of the character. Well, now you'll just have to wait and see Bakugo's reaction to his loss once he wakes up, as well as how the following fights with Mob will go, so stay tuned!**


	20. Support

"BEGIN!"

As Kageyama was partly expecting, Todoroki launched a barrage of ice at Midoriya, and the green-eyed fanboy responded with a flick of his fingers, destroying the ice pillars and sending Todoroki flying back, though he created an ice structure behind him to prevent himself from being sent back any further. Kageyama frowned: that would make this much more difficult for Midoriya if he couldn't throw Todoroki out of bounds.

The esper watched as his friend repeated that process two more times, losing three of his fingers and only giving him five more chances. This was better than if he had used his entire arm to start, but this still wasn't too much better. After the third shot from Todoroki's fingers, Kirishima came rushing into the spectator stand.

"Crap, I'm missing it!" he said.

"Nice job making it to the second round, Kirishima," said Kaminari.

"Thanks, man," the red-haired teenager replied, "Guess that means I'm up against Kageyama next."

"Yep..." The psychic was unsure of how to respond to this, but he didn't have to, as Kirishima still had a few things to say about the esper's fight.

"But man, it's insane how you were able to stand up against Bakugo's final move and take it like it was nothing. Even my quirk wouldn't be able to handle an explosion that big. Must be nice."

"I guess..." When it came to topics outside his personal scope or opinion, the esper was very silent and incoherent, a visual demonstration of the progress he had to make with his social interactions, and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The red-haired student waved his hands in dismissal.

"Eh, never mind that. It was a manly fight either way, and it looks like this match is heating up pretty quickly too." Kirishima was correct: after launching another ice volley, Midoriya expended his final finger on his right hand, and while this happened, Todoroki formed an ascending staircase of ice to strike Midoriya from above. The green-eyed teenager used his index finger on his left hand to destroy the ice construct, but Todoroki was still able to drop in on Izuku. The teenager narrowly dodged Todoroki's punch, which encased the ground in ice and rapidly expanded towards Izuku. The verdant-eyed teenager felt his foot get caught in ice and prepared to retaliate, but instead of using a finger, he decided to waste his entire arm in an attempt to catch his opponent off-guard. As one would imagine, the force was significantly more potent, the air pressure enveloping the entire ring and throwing the people in the stands back in their chairs.

Shigeo bit his lip: Izuku just expended his entire arm, and even with that, Todoroki had managed to put enough ice pillars to keep himself inside the ring. What was left for Midoriya now? With all the fingers on his right hand and his entire left arm expended, he couldn't use his arms to properly fight, and that would leave him completely exposed. So was this the end? Was the fight truly over?

The esper came close to accepting that reality when he saw Todoroki fire another volley of ice pillars, but just as the attack was about to reach Midoriya, another huge burst of wind pressure came forth. The red and white-haired student had not anticipated a blast of air, and had thus not prepared to protect himself from behind, and almost got himself thrown out of the ring. Mob gasped: how did Midoriya do that? He'd already used all the fingers on his right hand. Did that mean...

Shigeo squinted his eyes and slightly bulged his eyes. Midoriya had used one of the broken fingers. He could actually do that? But why? Having those broken bones must've been bad enough, but breaking them a second time? What kind of unbearable pain was he experiencing? Was he really so determined to win that he'd break himself like this? And as if that wasn't surprising enough for the esper, Midoriya was having a conversation with him, which was hard to hear, though the words that Midoriya shouted were not what Mob was expecting to hear out of him.

"You think you can win with only half your strength? Look at me, Todoroki! You haven't managed to put a single scratch on me yet! So come at me with all you've got!"

* * *

While things were beginning to heat up on the battlefield, the explosive teenager began to regain his consciousness. His eyes fluttered open, and he found himself in a bed. As his eyes adjusted, he noticed the school nurse standing next to him.

"So you finally woke up."

"Where am I?"

"In the infirmary. You were brought here after Midnight knocked you unconscious, though thankfully, you didn't have any injuries that I needed to heal."

As the memories of his defeat came back to him, so did the unbearable, overwhelming pain of that loss. His entire body began to shudder, and he stared emptily at his hand. Despite all the effort he put, despite all the time he'd invested into increasing his power, he'd completely failed in his mission to stand victorious during the sports festival in all regards, not having been the definitive winner in a single one of the events. Not only that, but his Howitzer Impact, the ace in the hole he'd prepared just for the festival, wasn't able to put so much as a scratch on Kageyama. The bowl-cut humiliated him in every fashion, from his attitude at the end of their fight to that degrading little speech he'd made near the end of their fight. How dare he talk to him like that, mock his character as such!

So what the hell did he do now? How the hell would Bakugo be able to surpass the bowl-cut? How much more powerful would his explosions need to become in order to actually faze him, in order to match him? God, it was just so, so...

Without even realizing, more tears of frustration began to form in his eyes, his teeth clenching hardly while he tightly balled his hands into fists. Nothing had changed, he was still helpless against the bowl-cut. Standing nearby, the school nurse felt somewhat awkward, not knowing what to do in this situation or how to comfort the student.

"The next match has already started," she said, "So you might want to go and sit with the rest of your classmates. You can take some gummies if you like." Bakugo didn't even acknowledge the school nurse, and slowly got out of his bed. Recovery Girl could see the look of despondency, of misery etched into the features of his face. This had been a truly devastating loss for him.

As the blonde teenager left the infirmary, a part of him was tempted to simply sit in one of the waiting rooms, for the taste of defeat was still extremely bitter on his tongue, and simply sit there for the rest of the tournament. But there was another part of him that knew it was still vital for him to get whatever info he could on his other two rivals, to know how to defeat them in the future, so with great effort, he forced his legs to march towards the spectator stand of his class and see how things were going with Deku and icy-hot.

Upon entering the spectator stand, some students noticed the sullen look in his eyes, his defeated stance, though others were too focused on the current battle to pay attention. None of them really knew how to comfort him, and since he'd never established any good relationships with his classmates, none of them felt too inclined to try and comfort him either. They could all tell that he wanted to be left alone, further proven by the fact that he decided to sit in the highest corner of the stand, several seats away from any other classmates.

The esper was one of the people who didn't notice Bakugo arriving, for he was too shocked and confused by what Midoriya had just said. Did he say he wanted Todoroki to use his fire? But why? What reason would Midoriya have to goad him into using his left side?

_7%_

On the battleground, Todoroki decided to go on the offensive and rushed his opponent, but his movement speed was evidently slower. Kageyama came to the assumption that he was overusing his right side from all the ice attacks, causing frost to spread across his right side and decreasing his movement speed. He also assumed that his left side could negate these effects from the heat generated, but since Todoroki was adamant on not using his left side, the frost was beginning to spread.

Todoroki lifted his right foot, but Midoriya reacted, focusing One For All into his right fist and imagining the egg not exploding in the microwave. Todoroki felt a powerful fist jam into his stomach, sending him flying back several meters, but also managing to freeze Midoriya's left arm in exchange. The green-haired teenager screamed out in pain and causing Mob to flinch. Somehow, Midoriya was still able to keep on fighting, and he was putting himself through this hell to make sure he stayed on-top.

Todoroki sent another ice attack, but it was much weaker in both speed and size, giving Midoriya an easier chance to dodge. The two of them proceeded to engage in close-quarters combat, with Midoriya continuing to use his broken fingers to shoot out blasts of pressurized air. Watching from the spectator stand, Mob was startled by this unbelievable resolve coming from his friend. He was able to fight through this pain, push himself beyond his limits and keep Todoroki on his guard using all the power at his disposal. He gasped when he saw the next move Midoriya made: using his thumb, he flicked it from the inside of his mouth, creating another short burst of air pressure. He was ready to break every bone in his hand to win this fight, and yet Mob was still having a hard time understanding what was compelling him to go this far. Was he... was he trying to help Todoroki through his pain?

Todoroki was asking Midoriya the same question on the battlefield, and the teenager was shouting out his response.

"I wanna live up to people's expectations! I wanna be able to smile while doing something good for them! I wanna be a pro! Whatever it takes to be a hero!" The green-haired teenager rushed forward and headbutted his opponent back.

"That's why I'll give it my all, just like you should be!"

So that really was the reason: Midoriya was trying to help Todoroki, to get him to use his left side because he believed that was what was holding him back, and he was pushing himself past his limit to try and get Todoroki to use his full power. Even though he wanted to win so badly, he also wanted to help Todoroki out at the same time. Kageyama couldn't help but smile to himself: that was the compassionate, loyal friend he had come to know.

_15%_

The green-haired teenager continued to urge Todoroki to use his power and approached him, using One For All in his fist and landing another powerful punch.

"That's why I'm going to win this! I'LL SURPASS YOU!" The passion and determination with which he spoke was truly remarkable, and Mob was left stunned by his perseverance. Still, the dual quirk-wielding teenager was adamant about not using his left side, too furious with his father to accept that part of him, and continued to stand by his promise.

"IT'S YOURS! YOUR QUIRK, NOT HIS!" The fanboy screamed these words at the top of his lungs, causing Todoroki to stop dead in his tracks. Those words managed to touch a deep nerve, bring back a vital memory in Todoroki's past, a moment when he remembered watching television with his mother. On the screen, All Might was there, giving his wisdom to the world and telling them that regardless of the lineage of a quirk, your power was what you made of it, that only you could decide to be a hero. His mother had further cemented that fact, telling him that he could still be a hero and to stay true to himself. How much he had forgotten...

A fire began to ignite inside Todoroki both figuratively and literally, and from his left side, a massive firestorm was unleashed. The sheer heat of his flames was enough to be felt all the way from the spectator stands, and several of the students of Class 1-A were baffled. Mob, however, was more amazed by the way that Midoriya had been able to get through to Todoroki, how he'd been able to convince him to use his left side. As he looked down at Todoroki, he took note of how the despondent, sad expression had faded, replaced by a confident smile.

"Yes, Shoto!" The esper heard this roaring voice and saw a man with flames surrounding most of his body, quickly piecing together that this was Todoroki's father. "Have you finally accepted your purpose? That's it! Very good! This is the dawn of a new era! With my blood in your veins, you'll surpass me and fulfill my desires!"

The esper was shocked and appalled by Endeavor's words: just as Todoroki had said, he only viewed his son as a tool to usurp All Might, and was only pleased by Todoroki using his fire simply because it would mean that he could be strong enough to contend with All Might. And yet, despite the animosity Todoroki held towards his father, he was still choosing to use his left side. He was choosing to unleash the fullest extent of his power against Midoriya, in order to win this tournament and give everything he had towards being a hero. But as important as that may have been, what was going to happen to Midoriya now? With those injuries, this match was practically over, so what would he do now?

_23%_

Mob's question was answered when he saw his friend begin to activate One For All in his left leg to propel himself forward, while Todoroki was using both fire and ice towards to prepare his final attack! But could Midoriya handle that? What would happen to him? It seemed as though Midnight and Cementoss were also worrying about this, as the esper could see both of them begin to take action.

From his right side, Todoroki unleashed several more pillars of ice against Midoriya, while from his left side, he prepared to unleash a very large blast of heat. Since his ice attacks had chilled the air, the rapid release of heat would cause the air to rapidly expand, creating an extremely powerful air blast. While he was doing this, Midoriya was coming in hot, activating One For All in his right arm and preparing to unleash his own final attack. As the two attacks prepared to collide, the last thoughts on Todoroki's mind were thoughts of gratitude towards his opponent, for helping him see what was most important.

"Thank you."

Just before the attacks could meet, Cementoss put up several rows of cement between the two attacks, but even so, that could not fully stop the force of the collision. The impact created from both moves managed to not only destroy the cement and most of the ring, but pulverize all the blocks into such little pieces that they were hardly more than specks by the time they reached the crowd. Now that the two attacks had dissipated, the only thought on the minds of everyone was which attack had managed to do the trick, to push the other out of bounds. Standing at the edge of the stand, Kageyama was desperately waiting to see what the end result had been, whether Midoriya would advance to the next round.

His hopes were shattered when he saw his friend blasted against the wall, both of his arms and his leg broken and all his energy sapped away from him while Todoroki stood on the ring with the left side of his gym uniform almost completely burned off.

"Midoriya is out of bounds!" shouted Midnight, "Todoroki wins!" The crowd frantically cheered for the dual quirk-wielding teenager, while the esper deeply frowned: Midoriya had lost. He'd given everything he had to winning this festival, and yet in the end, it wasn't enough. More importantly, he'd caused some extremely devastating damage to his body through repeated usage of One For All in his fingers, and he prayed that Recovery Girl would be enough to heal all those injuries.

"What an explosive end to this crazy battle! Looks like we're gonna take an intermission to repair the ring, cuz there's no way anyone's gonna be fighting on it now!" Cementoss began to take his cue and prepared a pipe with cement to replace the broken ring. While this was happening, some medical robots began to arrive on the scene and put him on a stretcher, while Todoroki took a long look at his opponent and watched him leave the arena before silently going off on his own, his face in a neutral expression.

"Midoriya's injuries looked rather severe," noted Iida, "I'd like to check up on him."

"Good idea, Iida," replied Uraraka. The esper also nodded in agreement, while a few other classmates decided to join the three of them, with those classmates being Mineta, Tsu, and even Yaoyorozu, who felt that their bond had begun to strengthen after their interactions and their partnership during the cavalry battle. All of them quickly rushed to the infirmary, and when they got there, they all popped their heads through the door like gophers.

"Midoriya!" They all expressed looks of gloom when they saw both of Midoriya's arms wrapped up around each other. The classmates all approached the bed while Recovery Girl and a sickly man none of them had ever seen before stood beside him. Uraraka looked at this unknown man in a suit and decided to address him.

"It's nice to meet you, sir," she said.

"Uh, yea," All Might replied.

"He's in no state for visitors," Recovery Girl said.

The green-haired teenager heard the voices of his friends and forced his eyes open, only to get a look at all of their worried faces. "Hey guys. Shouldn't you be watching the matches?"

"The stage was far too damaged from your match," said Iida, "They're taking a quick break to repair it now."

"That match was the scariest thing I've ever seen in my life, Midoriya," the short teenager said, his body trembling at the thought of the battle's sheer intensity, "No pro's gonna want a side-kick who hurts himself." Tsu cut him off by striking his temple with her tongue.

"Now you're just rubbing salt in his wound: not the best time for that."

"Hey, I'm just speaking the truth."

"Go, all of you." The school nurse attempted to shoo all of the visitors away from the room. "I understand your concerns, but I need all of you to leave so I can focus on surgery."

"SURGERY?!" All of the teenagers felt their hearts constrict with this terrible revelation, Kageyama having the worst reaction. So the repeated use of One For All with broken limbs had caused so much damage that surgery was going to be required? Many of the classmates voiced their concerns, asking the school nurse what kind of surgery would be performed and how extensive the damage was, but Recovery Girl would not budge. But just before pushing all of them out, All Might pointed to Kageyama.

_28%_

"Actually, let him stay for a moment." Recovery Girl gave a quick look to the number one hero and yielded to his request, motioning for the esper to stay, which he was glad to accept.

"Now the rest of you, don't worry. Just leave me to my work." The nurse closed the door, leaving the four of them alone and allowing Midoriya to properly speak his mind to All Might, allow him to express the immense feelings of shame and guilt that were stirring inside.

"I'm sorry, All Might." The number one hero and the esper heard the palpable sadness in the green-eyed teenager's voice and saw the deep frown on his face. "I couldn't do what you asked me to do. If I'd just kept my mouth shut, I could've won, but I remembered how sad Todoroki looked during his first match, and I was spending the entire match trying to figure out why, when I should've been focused on the match."

"Midoriya, try to understand something." The esper grabbed the edge of the bed and slightly leaned his body forward, for he did not like seeing his friend put himself down like this, not after what he did for Todoroki. "I think you did something amazing: you saw that Todoroki was sad, and you decided to try and help him through his problems, through his pain. When I saw him unleash his flames, I couldn't see any of the sadness in his face we saw in his first match. Your actions helped him to lessen his pain, to help him see that his power was his own and using his left side didn't mean he had to follow in his father's footsteps, and if you ask me, that's way more important than winning."

_32%_

Midoriya was not expecting to hear this kind of tone in his friend's voice, this deep sense of respect. Kageyama was truly expressing his amazement and admiration for what Midoriya had done during his fight with Todoroki, how incredible he felt the support given to the dual quirk-wielding teenager had been, and Midoriya felt his lips begin to slightly tremble.

"What do you think, All Might?" the esper said.

"You hit it right on the nose, Kageyama," All Might replied, "You helped Todoroki realize an important part of himself. While it may be true that the match didn't go as you planned, realizing where you went wrong won't change that.

"But listen: meddling where you don't technically belong is the essence of being a hero."

Midoriya's lips began to tremble even more, and his eyes were beginning to water as well. Watching the words being spoken from All Might and Kageyama, the school nurse sighed: even though she was no fan of the way Izuku continuously injured himself, she still saw him as a student to be taken care of and as the next successor of One For All and was troubled whenever she saw him in pain either physically or emotionally.

"You two can continue praising this reckless child once I've finished the surgery, so go wait outside."

"Ok," replied the esper, and as the two of them made their way to the door, Mob looked at the school nurse, and with a pleading tone in his voice, said, "Recovery Girl, please heal my friend."

The way Mob spoke, the way he gave his pleas to Recovery Girl and the way his eyes were drenched with fear and concern caused the nurse to momentarily shake, and it also made Midoriya feel a tinge of guilt for putting his friend through this kind of emotional pain. "I'll do everything I can, Kageyama."

The number one hero closed the door and allowed the school nurse to begin her surgery while the two superpowered humans stood outside. All Might tried to give his student a sense of reassurance. "Don't worry about this too much, Kageyama. Recovery Girl's a medical expert with an outstanding quirk: young Midoriya's going to be fine."

"I hope you're right..."

All Might attempted to veer the topic onto a slightly more positive note, mainly the way Kageyama had won in his fight against Bakugo. "You know, I was pretty blown away by your battle against Bakugo. Your psychic power really gave you a tremendous boost in offense and defense, and you keep on surprising me and the rest of the world with your powers."

"I guess," said Kageyama, his mind too occupied with thoughts of Midoriya to fully absorb All Might's words, "Well, I'm glad that I'm making the impression you wanted."

"The entire world will know who you are by the end of this tournament," said All Might with a wide grin before giving the esper a firm pat on the back, "And even if he didn't win the tournament, I'm positive the world will know who Midoriya is as well, so don't psyche yourself out over this too much." The number one hero gave a second pat on the back to the esper, motioning for him to leave. "Now go on. I'll stay here with Midoriya."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. Young Midoriya's going to be fine." The psychic paused for a few seconds before deciding to finally adhere to All Might's request and began to make his way toward the class, but just before he left, All Might had one last thing to say to him.

"Next time I'll see you, it'll be on the podium, when I'm putting the first-place medal around your neck." The esper felt his heart began to flutter a little, and he looked back at All Might with a shaky smile. He was being reminded of how much faith All Might had in his abilities, the expectations he had in him to win this tournament. Well, the esper was going to make sure he wouldn't let All Might down.

_35%_

While the esper was walking through the hall, his thoughts began to shift towards Todoroki, wondering how he was faring after this fight. Kageyama wanted to know what he was thinking, what he was feeling after breaking his promise to use his left side and giving it everything he had during the match. He wanted to see whether or not he needed a person to help digest his emotions, and he wanted to be that person, just as Midoriya had been that person to help the dual quirk-wielding teenager. Mob assumed that Todoroki would be by himself, since he wasn't really keen on socializing with others and likely wouldn't go to any of his classmates, so he decided to head for the waiting rooms, where competitors had the option of waiting. Sure enough, the teenager entered Waiting Room #2, and found Todoroki sitting by himself, emptily staring at his hand.

As it turned out, Todoroki was having a very big, conflicted reaction to using his left side. After the match, his father was waiting for him to express pride in the fact that he'd finally chosen to abandon his childish rebellion and accept the path he'd laid out for his son, even extending his hand for a handshake. However, the teenager rejected the handshake, openly proclaiming that nothing had changed between them, and that he simply stopped thinking about him during the match, going so far as to say he might not need him. Alas, he couldn't simply accept this new change so easily, for he did not know what it meant, how he would go about this, and whether or not he'd use his flames again. The memories of his mother came flooding into him as well, memories he'd tried to forget but returned during his fight with Midoriya. So what was he going to do...

"Hey, Todoroki." The red and white-haired student was brought out of his thoughts by Shigeo's voice, and he moved his head to face him. "I see you're thinking to yourself. That match didn't go the way I imagined: I didn't think you'd use your left side after what you said to Midoriya and me."

Todoroki looked back down to his empty hand, recalling the way Midoriya had told him to use his full power during their fight. "That fool. Instead of trying to win the match himself, he focused on breaking my walls.

"You two seem to be very close. Have you always known him to be so helpful?"

Memories came back to the moments they shared together during their training, the way Midoriya would always try and lift Mob up whenever he fell down, the high praise he constantly spoke about Kageyama.

"Yep." The esper approached his classmate and took the seat adjacent to him, preparing to have a long talk with Todoroki. "And that's what I like about him. He wants to be a hero, but he doesn't forget about the people around him, the people who've helped him get to where he is, and is always trying his best to help them however he can. That's what he did with you: he saw the pain you were in during your match with Sero, and he tried to do something about it by helping you use your fire, to get you to realize that it didn't mean you had to follow the path your father's laid out for you. But..."

_37%_

"You seem to be struggling with the decision you made, what it really means for you." The esper let out a soft sigh and slightly lowered his head. "You've been through so much. All your life, you've been trained to be a weapon to usurp All Might. You never got the chance to live your childhood, have proper interactions with your siblings or have a normal life, and you want to forge your own path that doesn't follow the one your father made. So many emotions still churning inside of you...

_41%_

"Listen, if we make it to the finals, you can use your flames if you want, but if you don't, if you feel that using your left side isn't what you really want to do, I'm fine with that as well." Todoroki's eyes widened, and he stared at the esper with a dazed look.

"Unlike Midoriya, I'm not going to try and force you to use your left side. It's not that I want you to fight with half your power simply so I can get an advantage: it's just, I can see how much internal conflict you're facing, and I don't want to make you do anything you don't want to. While I can't fully understand your situation, I do know what it's like not to use your powers for personal reasons, and I also know how impactful it can be when you break that promise." The esper drew this similarity to the vow he made not to use his psychic powers against other people, as well as the sadness he felt when he broke that promise and used his powers against Hanazawa. The esper compassionately placed his hand on the upper part of Todoroki's left arm.

"Like Midoriya said, it's your quirk, not your father's, and you're the protagonist of your own story. A story that isn't written by your father, Midoriya, or me. That means you get to make your own choices, you can choose what kind of person you want to be. Just try to make sure that whatever choices you make, they're choices that you can be proud of. That's what I'm trying to do: I'm trying to improve myself to become a person that I can be proud of." The dual quirk-wielding teenager's eyes widened even further, and his mouth slightly gaped open in shock.

_43%_

"I'm sure you'll make whatever choice feels right to you." The esper gave a small pat on Todoroki's shoulder, then began to get out of his chair and head back to the spectator stand, but just before he was about to leave, he stopped at the door.

"Also, while your father unfortunately may not consider your feelings or who you are as a person, you have an entire class who does, and Midoriya and I are two of these people." Mob's lips lifted slightly upward, and his dull eyes began to lightly shine. "So remember: you're not alone here." A faint gasp escaped Todoroki's lips, and he could think of nothing to say in return as the esper exited the room to go back to the spectator stand. Todoroki was not anticipating anything like this: Kageyama extended to him a deep sense of sympathy for his problems, not only comprehending the difficulty of this sudden change of using his left side, but also the many feelings swirling inside of him. Those words were intertwined with a much deeper sense of understanding and compassion than Midoriya's words had been.

That compassion... it reminded him so much of her mother, the way she'd spoken to him, been there for him and helped him with her words of kindness to remind him he could be the kind of person he wanted to be, just like Kageyama had done. For that reason, his words had just as big an impact to him as Midoriya's words and struck a deep chord in the teenager's heart. Kageyama was just... full of surprises.

* * *

With the ring fixed and the first match out of the way, the following matches began to start, and both matches were finished relatively quickly thanks to superior skill and speed. For the second match, Iida vs. Shiozaki, the student from Class 1-B attempted to strike with her vines, but Iida repeated his last fight with Uraraka and proceeded to use his Recipro Burst, maneuvering behind her and proceeding to push her out of the ring. For the third match, Tokoyami vs. Ashido, the pink-colored girl attempted to retaliate by throwing balls of acid at Dark Shadow, but the beast easily dodged the attacks and knocked his opponent out of bounds.

While this was happening, the school nurse finished up her surgery and gave Midoriya a dosage of her quirk. But as it so happened, Midoriya had sustained some permanent damage to his hand, and there was now visible scarring on his right hand. Then, as a wake-up call and a warning to both of them, Recovery Girl declared to both All Might and Izuku that she would no longer be healing injuries such as this, that the teenager would need to find a better way of using One For All without breaking his body so badly.

The number one hero and his disciple were walking down the hallway, with All Might pondering what other way Midoriya could use One For All. But Izuku's mind was not on this, however. No, his mind was only focused on his failures.

"Hey, All Might." The two of them stopped in the middle of the hallway while All Might waited for Midoriya to speak. "You remember when you told me why you came to U.A. in the first place? To find a worthy successor to inherit One For All."

"That's right."

"I gave everything to try and win the sports festival, but still, I couldn't win. Not only that, but there were other competitors who fought for their victory harder than I did, who possess more power and skill than I do, like Kageyama. So, maybe..."

"You're thinking it might be better for someone else to be my successor, correct?" The teenager's body slightly shuddered in surprise, and then his head sank.

"Yea."

"You speak the truth. This school is full of incredible potential, and Kageyama would be a great candidate." The number one hero looked to the side and he let out a short bark of laughter. "Though to be honest, I'm kind of frightened by what would happen if I gave it to him. One For All is a crystallization of power, and it bolsters quirks. Since Kageyama's psychic power isn't technically a quirk, I don't think it would increase its potency, but the physical strength he'd get, multiplied by the power of One For All, would probably make him a god, with potentially enough power to obliterate an entire island, maybe even the whole country."

The green-eyed fanboy's lips began to tremble. "Then-"

"But you know, I was quirkless too when I was a kid." The teenager's eyes widened like saucers, and he drew a sharp breath before turning to face All Might, who was smiling at him and pointing his thumb at himself.

"Quirkless? Seriously."

"Back in my day, it wasn't as rare, but it was still pretty out of the ordinary, and even though I didn't have any power of my own, I had someone who believed in me. My master gave me One For All and raised me to be a hero."

The young teenager was seeing All Might in a very new light, to know that both of them shared the same background and history. "How come you never told me this?"

"Hey, it's not my fault you never asked, which is pretty surprising, to be honest."

"It's just... I never imagined the number one hero would be quirkless."

"It's true. When we first met, I saw a little of the old me in you, but you've gone beyond my expectations time and time again. One day, you're going to do great things with One For All, and one day, you will become Kageyama's equal, I guarantee it."

Izuku let out another startled gasp, with All Might's words of faith striking the teenager deep in his heart. Even after failing, and even knowing that Kageyama had greater power than him, the number one hero was still confident in Midoriya's abilities to excel with One For All. Izuku nearly felt his eyes begin to water, but he closed them and stopped himself from bawling.

"I'll do my best."

* * *

While this had been going on and the wielder of One For All was getting his wounds healed, the fourth match of the second bracket was starting, and the two competitors were about to walk through the exits and take their places on the ring. For the red-haired student, he couldn't help but feel a great bit of fear and doubt in his ability to win this fight. After having seen so many instances of Kageyama's power and the way that he was able to withstand such a strong explosion from Bakugo, he couldn't think of anything he could do that could possibly hurt him. He could come up with no plan to overpower Kageyama. Still, that didn't mean that he'd just roll over and give up!

The two competitors walked out of the exits, and as always, the crowd roared with excitement. The two competitors entered the ring, and from the corners of the ring, flames began to ignite.

"The last match of the quarter finals! From the hero course, Shigeo Kageyama! Versus, his classmate, Eijiro Kirishima!"

"You may be strong, Kageyama," the red-haired teenager said, "But that doesn't mean I'm just gonna surrender now! A real man never quits!"

"That's right!" From the spectator stand of Class 1-B, Tetsutetsu cried out in support of Kirishima, a testament to the manly bond they'd formed and the admiration he held for Kirishima's manly nature. Similarly, Kageyama couldn't help but smile at Kirishima's passionate attitude, his determined nature. He drew some similarities to Midoriya's fighting spirit, which was why this battle was going to be rather difficult for him.

"BEGIN!"

The manly teenager screamed and lunged toward the esper with his entire body hardened, attempting to land several punches on his opponent. As expected, the esper created a barrier to protect himself, and the punches were unable to break through the shield. This was exactly as the audience expected and as Kirishima feared: with those shields up, he couldn't deal any damage to Kageyama whatsoever. Inside his shield, Kageyama was deliberating on what his plan of action should be. Unlike his other opponents, Kageyama was more willing to use physical force against him because his hardening gave him more protection, so any punches he dealt wouldn't deal any potentially lethal damage. Right now, he was at around 40% of his power, so he'd lower the power in his fists to around 10%-12%.

Kageyama dropped the barrier and countered the hardened teenager with a strong jab to the chest. Even with ten percent, a small burst of wind pressure was formed, and Kirishima was sent flying back a few meters, though as he was being sent flown away, he jammed his hardened feet into the ground. Some of the people were amazed by how Kirishima was able to withstand one of Kageyama's blows, but most of the people in the crowd could tell Shigeo struck with only a fraction of his power.

"As long as I've got a good foothold, I can't be blown away!" Kirishima said. The esper realized that he was correct, and a telekinetic blast likely wouldn't be efficient. After seeing the way his opponent was able to withstand 10% of his power, he decided to kick up his power to 20%. Kirishima, seeing no other option and knowing little else besides charging in head-on, sprinted for the esper, the two of them approaching the center of the ring, but with amazing speed and power, Mob sped toward Kirishima and landed another solid blow, breaking Kirishima's hardening. A much larger burst of air pressure came forth, and the force generated managed to knock Eijiro off his feet and sent him flying across the ring, and unlike Bakugo, he didn't have anyway of stopping himself while he was in the air. Because of this, he was knocked straight into the wall, cracking it deeply.

"Kirishima has been knocked out of bounds! Kageyama advances!" The crowd roared, though the esper reacted with shock and worry: he wasn't expecting the attack to send him flying like that, nor was he expecting the attack to shatter his armored skin so easily. The esper quickly sprinted over to his opponent's side.

_49%_

"I didn't mean to send you flying so fast! Did you get hurt?" The psychic grabbed Kirishima's arm and dislodged him from the wall, though the red-haired teenager didn't seem very injured and tried to calm Mob's nerves.

"Don't freak out. My hardened body took most of the blow, so I'm not really beat up." Eijiro stretched his back to ease the small aches, and while he obviously felt disappointed by his loss, he decided to be a man about it, suck it up, and show his respect towards Kageyama, unlike Bakugo.

"You've got some seriously awesome power, man, and I gotta give you props for that." The teenager beamed and put out his fist with nothing but respect. The esper lightly gasped at first, but he similarly beamed with relief and acceptance, and the two proceeded to bump fists. The crowd burst to life with applause, and the chivalrous behavior of Kageyama, the way he'd immediately rushed over to his opponent's side in concern was only improving his reputation. In the spectator of Class 1-B, the manly Tetsutetsu nodded his head in approval, and wasn't particularly bummed out about Kirishima's loss because of who he lost to.

"Kageyama's a pretty big man too," the steely teenager remarked.

"Whatever," said Monoma waving his hand in dismissal and refusing to acknowledge anything positive about Shigeo.

At the edge of the arena, the two of them decided to exit from the same side and walked together out of the arena. As the two of them walked together, Kageyama decided to continue a conversation.

"Again, I'm sorry I punched you so hard. I added too much power after seeing the way you were able to withstand the first punch."

"How much power were you using in that last punch anyway?"

"About 20%."

"Only twenty percent?" the teenager exclaimed. That single punch felt like a giant boulder had been thrown at him. Had any other students been hit by that, they would've likely been injured with potentially a broken bone or two. "If I were you, I'd try to tone down the power of your punches by more than that. Even that first punch could maybe cause some bruises on some people if you aren't careful."

"I only used 20% on you because of your quirk, and the first punch was just 10%, but I'll definitely take your advice and keep the punches at less than ten percent."

The two teenagers continued walking together until they made it back to the spectator stand, where they were greeted by their classmates. Kageyama's first attention, however, was Midoriya, whose arms were heavily bandaged, with a sling around his right arm.

"Midoriya!" The esper rushed over to his side, "Are you alright? How did the surgery go?"

"Recovery Girl managed to patch me up enough so that I'm able to walk, so that's good."

"Wait, what's..." Mob's face morphed with horror as he saw the scars on his friend's right hand. He gasped and took the fanboy's hand as he gazed at the scars more closely. "Your hand! Why're there scars there?"

_52%_

The teenager awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. "Well, since I used my power on my right hand multiple times, I guess I put more strain on it than it could take, and this is what happened."

"But, there has to be something more Recovery Girl can do! I'm gonna go talk to her!" The esper quickly got out of his seat to run to the nurse's office.

"Kageyama, there's really no need to..." But the esper had already left.

"Wow, he's even more worried about your health than I am," said Uraraka. Izuku was stricken silent, feeling even more guilty about damaging himself. To know that he'd put his friend through this kind of agony with his injuries was agony of his own. He had to try and listen to what Recovery Girl said, find another way to use One For All so he wouldn't break himself so much and make Kageyama worry even more.

* * *

The school nurse was at her desk, doing some paperwork and minding her own business, when out of nowhere, the door burst open, and in came Shigeo Kageyama.

"Oh, Kageyama. What brings you to my office? Did you get some injuries during your match you need fixing."

"No, it's not that. I just wanted to talk to you about the healing you did on Midoriya. I saw that there were some scars on his right hand. Can't your quirk fix that?"

The school nurse closed her eyes and lifted her head down. "Unfortunately, those injuries are beyond my help."

"But why not?"

"My quirk works by sending signals to the body, increasing the speed of the natural healing process. However, the body is only programmed to heal itself in certain ways, so if injuries are bad enough, those injuries cannot be fully healed, which is why there's scarring or permanent damage. My quirk doesn't have the power to make the body heal beyond its limits. It can only command the body to heal how it was made to heal."

"Hold on..." The esper held his hand out, causing the nurse's eyebrow to lift up. The wording she'd used had caught his attention.

"What?"

"Sending signals... One of my powers, manipulating plants, involves me sending psychic signals to those plants to command them. I can also give my energy to others. So what if I... combined those two concepts?" The school nurse was still having a bit of trouble following the esper's lead.

"What if I could use my psychic power to send signals to the body to heal itself? I could bypass the body's programming and give it the energy it needs to heal injuries that normally couldn't be fixed."

"Oh..." The school nurse pondered the esper's suggestion for a moment. "I don't know how your psychic powers work, so I can't say it's out of the realm of possibility."

But this idea was already starting to build up huge momentum inside Mob. It was bringing forth many more possibilities in his head. "If I could master that kind of ability, I could use it for more than just healing Midoriya's scars." A smile split across the esper's face. "I could fix All Might!"

_61%_

"Recovery Girl, All Might's weak form, that only happened because of the injuries he got from the big fight five years ago, right?"

"Yes." The elderly woman sighed. "His body received catastrophic damage that no amount of surgeries or shots of my quirk could fix. His stomach was torn apart, and his respiratory system was significantly damaged as well. With no stomach and lack of proper oxygen flow, his body quickly began to decay to what it is now."

"So if I could regenerate his stomach and fix the damage to his respiratory system, would that mean his body would change back into his muscle form, the way he used to be, and allow him to use his remains of One For All more effectively?"

The school nurse tapped her chin with her finger, pondering the achievability of this task. "It might take some time for his body to readjust, but I believe yes, he would go back to the way he was."

_65%_

"That would be amazing! That would mean the world wouldn't have to see him in his weakened state! I have to try it right away!"

"Hold on!" The school nurse got out of her chair and began pointing her cane at the esper. "This idea definitely sounds like something to invest some effort and research into, though now isn't the time to be experimenting with this! After all, you still have two more rounds of the sports festival."

The esper heeded the nurse's words and calmed himself down. "I guess so. Still, I'm gonna try and do whatever I can to see if this healing is possible."

The elderly nurse tilted her head and gave the esper a small smile. "I'm sure you will. Now run along."

The teenager left the room with a vibrance and brimming hope that was rarely seen in him. A fire of hope had lit itself inside the esper, the chance that he could give the number one hero what he'd lost, that he could use his powers for something more than hurting others. He was on his way to the spectator stand, though through the loudspeaker, Present Mic's voice announced that the battle between Todoroki and Iida had ended, with the dual quirk-wielding teenager taking victory.

"That's a bummer for Iida," Kageyama muttered to himself, "I'm sure he was hoping to win to make his older brother proud." With the first match of the semi-finals out of the way, Mob knew that it wouldn't be worth it to go back to the spectator stand, and made his way to the waiting room, where he sat for the few minutes he had, several thoughts flowing through his mind. Most of his thoughts were centered around making his new healing power, wondering how he'd go about doing this. He'd only ever used basic psychic powers, and the other technique's he'd used, such as plant manipulation and leaving his body, he'd simply copied. Would he be able to create this entirely new power from scratch?

Besides healing, Mob was also thinking about Todoroki. Since he didn't see the fight, he wasn't sure if he'd used his left side against Iida, or if Todoroki would use his flames against him, assuming and hoping that he'd actually make it to the finals. Like Mob had said, he didn't care whether or not he used his fire, he just wanted Todoroki to do whatever felt right for him. With the relatively short waiting time, the esper made his way toward the ring, going down the pathway to the exit and heading toward the ring.

For the final match of the semi-finals, the two powerful students walked through their exits. They then walked up the stairs and entered the ring, where they then took their places and Present Mic began the basic introductions. For Tokoyami, he was feeling the same kind of budding nervousness that Kirishima and Bakugo had experienced, knowing of the esper's phenomenal power as well as his basically impenetrable barriers. He'd charged Dark Shadow's power as much as possible for this match, but he wasn't sure it would be enough. More importantly, he was the only student who knew of Dark Shadow's weakness, but did he remember? Would he find a way to exploit that weakness during their match?

"Begin!"

The avian teenager unleashed his creature of the darkness, and he commanded it to strike the psychic. Dark Shadow roared and began its assault, only this time, instead of building a shield, Shigeo decided to start out on the offensive and unleashed a telekinetic blast against Tokoyami.

"Dark Shadow! Keep me in the ring!" The avian student was sent flying backward, but through his command, the shadowy construct sunk its claws into the ground, preventing him from being thrown out of the ring. The spectators all shouted out, and the energy began to quickly build.

"I wonder how Kageyama's gonna fight Tokoyami," said Tsu.

"He could either try to attack Dark Shadow or go straight for Tokoyami," Midoriya noted.

"Either way, Kageyama's got this one in the bag," Mineta remarked.

In the ring, Kageyama was trying to think of a strategy, a way to go about fighting Tokoyami. His Dark Shadow was very useful for offense and defense, and it gave him a great deal of maneuverability as well. So what would be the best way to fight that?

Then it came to him. He remembered when the two of them were fighting together in the U.S.J., when Tokoyami told him about his weakness to light. Perhaps he could use that. Yes, his psychic power generated a bright, rainbow-colored aura that could act as a counter to Dark Shadow, allowing Mob the opportunity to weaken the shadow construct enough to restrain Tokoyami and take the win.

"Oh, looks like Kageyama's putting up a light show!" Present Mic noted the way that the esper was beginning to generate a much more abundant pool of energy around him, growing several feet in diameter. Tokoyami's posture became rigid and he frowned. This was exactly what he'd feared: Mob's energy was producing a huge amount of light to play to his quirk's weakness. Even this light show was enough for Dark Shadow to cower back and slightly decrease in size. In the spectator stand of Class 1-A, the classmates didn't understand Mob's reason for increasing his energy expenditure so much, but they were about to find out soon enough.

The teenager's eyes flashed rainbow, and he released a large burst of psychic energy toward his opponent. Dark Shadow acted as a shield to defend from this burst of energy, but the creature howled in pain. Even that single attack had both enough light and power to seriously injure the creature of the darkness.

"Not good." Sadly for Tokoyami, this battle was going to be over very shortly. The esper began running toward his opponent, firing two more casual blasts of energy, but even regular blasts were proving to be a tremendous burden for Dark Shadow to bear. The esper decided to finish this battle off through a final large burst of light, and this time, he'd take a page from Bakugo's book.

The esper rounded his hands together, and in the center of them, he created a concentrated burst of his psychic energy, which he unleashed in the form of a blinding light against the shadowy creature. The light was much more blinding than Katsuki's Stun Grenade, and everyone in the stadium was momentarily blinded by the attack. When they recuperated their vision, they found Mob pinning Fumikage to the ground with his right hand on the avian student's chest. Not only that, but for some reason, Dark Shadow was gone. The esper's attack had been so strong, created so much light, it managed to completely obliterate Dark Shadow, causing it to retract back into Tokoyami's body.

"Hey, that attack was kinda like yours, Bakugo," Kirishima said.

"Shut up!" the hot-headed teenager replied.

In the ring, the avian teenager knew this fight was over: with Kageyama pinning him to the ground, and Dark Shadow's energy completely drained, there was nothing more he could do.

"I surrender."

"Tokoyami gives up! Kageyama is the winner of this match!"

"That means the final fight will be between Kageyama and Todoroki!"

As the crowd cheered, some of the students of Class 1-A were analyzing how the battle had just went down.

"So Dark Shadow is weak to light," said Midoriya, rigorously taking notes on Tokoyami's quirk in his notebook.

"But how did Kageyama know that?" questioned Uraraka.

"He and Tokoyami fought together during the U.S.J.," Yaoyorozu explained, "It's likely that Tokoyami told him about his quirk and it's weaknesses."

In the ring, Kageyama extended his hand to help his classmate up, with Fumikage accepting this gesture of support. "Honestly, this match was pretty of unfair for you, since you already told me about Dark Shadow's weakness beforehand. You put in a great effort."

Tokoyami shook his head. "Even if you didn't know of my weakness, I highly doubt that Dark Shadow would have been able to inflict any heavy damage onto you. Your quirk just possesses too much power."

The esper decided to end this fight on a respectful note, and bowed his head. The corner of Fumikage's lip curved up nominally, appreciating the respect and consideration his opponent was giving him, and he bowed back. This was another budding friendship that Kageyama had managed to form, and it had yet to fully bloom.

_66%_

As the esper was walking out of the ring, he began to search for his final opponent in the stadium, and found him standing alone at an entrance. When the two exchanged eye contact, the esper saw no hostility or intimidation in his eyes like before. They were simply... neutral. Somewhat like himself. Mob wasn't quite sure what that meant, but at least it was an improvement from before.

The esper decided to do as he'd done before and go to the waiting room instead of the spectator stand, for his following match would be in less than ten minutes. With his final match coming up, his primary thoughts were now focused on whether Todoroki would do as he did with Midoriya and use his left side. This would likely be the most important match for him, and his father would also likely want him to use his flames against an opponent with the strength he had.

He went into Waiting Room #1, and sat there for a few minutes by himself in his own thoughts. Then, being the good friend that he was, Midoriya came through the door to speak to Mob.

"Oh, Midoriya."

"Hey, Kageyama," the teenager said with a smile, "How're you feeling for your final match?"

The esper merely shrugged his shoulders. "I'm kinda nervous for the fight, hoping that I'll be able to win to make All Might proud."

"I don't have a doubt that you will."

As the two of them stood there in that room, Kageyama decided to divulge with him what he'd seen of Todoroki after their match. "I went to see Todoroki after visiting you in the infirmary, and he was pretty conflicted by the decision he made. I'm not entirely sure that he's gonna use his flames again. I know you think that he should do his best, and everything you said to him in the ring was true, but..."

Midoriya took this in with similarly mixed feelings. So the decision to use his left side came with bigger emotional baggage than he'd anticipated. He should've expected as much, and he knew that Todoroki had every right to be furious at his father for everything he'd done to him.

"It makes sense for him to be feeling like that. Still, I'm hoping that not only Todoroki, but also you, put everything into this final match."

The esper nodded and proceeded to get up from his chair. "I'm going to win this. For All Might and for you." Midoriya gave his friend a thumbs-up as the teenager teenager prepared to go to the final round of the sports festival, to win this tournament for the two people closest to him at the school.

Mob wasn't really expecting to come across anyone while on his way to the ring, which was why it was quite a surprise when, coming in from the right hallway, the number two hero was walking in all of his fire and glory, causing Mob to stop dead in his tracks.

"You're Endeavor..."

"Shigeo Kageyama. Just the person I was looking for." After seeing Kageyama's power throughout the multiple different events of this festival, he'd basically predicted that he would make it to the finals and come face-to-face with his son. "I've watched all of your fights, and I must say, your power is truly phenomenal. You can use your energy for so many different purposes, and it also gives you a tremendous boost in your physical capabilities. I saw this first with your remarkable speed during the obstacle course, and then I saw the strength you displayed during your fight with the explosive child. To be able to create so much wind pressure from merely flicking your fingers. That boy, Midoriya, also possesses a similar strength, a strength that you both seem to have in common with All Might."

"Oh..." Once again, similarities were being drawn with the three of them. "I guess I've never thought about it like that."

"However, you possess a much greater degree of control over that power compared to Midoriya, since your body doesn't break, making you a much more difficult opponent to stand up against. I was pleased when Shoto used his left side against him. I thought he'd finally decided to end his childish rebellion, but it appears he's still adamant in defying me. But he will surely realize that he cannot hold back against you. You will be his true test to see how much training he has to do in his mission to defeat All Might, so make sure you fight him with everything you have in your-"

"You're wrong." The teenage esper cut the number two hero off. The number two hero was seriously misguided, unable to see all the harm he was doing to his son and the true reason for Todoroki's unwillingness to use his flames, and Mob had to tell him, to set him straight. "Todoroki's not using his left side because he doesn't want to follow the path you've been laying out for him his whole life. Because he knows you aren't viewing him as a person. You said it yourself during his fight with Midoriya: when Todoroki used his left side, you were happy because that meant he could use his power to "fulfill your desires". You only view him as a tool to surpass All Might, to hone as a weapon like you've done all these years. But he's not a tool: he's your son, your flesh and blood, and he deserves to be treated like that."

_68%_

For a moment, Endeavor was too stricken with shock to respond. What did this child just say? Did he actually have the nerve to speak to him in such a manner, to tell him about how he should be raising his son. Furthermore, everything this child was saying was just wrong! The hero's flames momentarily burst with anger before simmering down. "Nonsense! Look at what he has! Look at the unbelievable power he possesses! Even when using half of his strength, he's been able to achieve tremendous results! He has the potential to not only surpass my flames, but to make up for all the weaknesses of my quirk! With the power he possesses, he can climb higher than I ever have! I've given him everything!"

"You've given him everything except a normal life. You may have given him the potential to be a great hero, but you've neglected every other aspect of his identity. You've never bothered to ask yourself who your son truly is, who he wants to be, and you haven't been there for him in the ways he's needed you to be." The esper would've liked to continue this conversation, but he knew his match was going to start in only a few minutes, so he cut his thoughts short.

"I have to go, but I still want to talk to you about this later on." The esper walked past the number two hero, whose flames were beginning to grow even hotter, until they were enveloping his entire head.

"Who do you think you are, boy?" the hero shouted.

The esper looked back at the flame hero with both calmness and intensity in his eyes, causing the hero to slightly stagger and drop the level of his flames.

"Who am I? I'm Todoroki's friend, and I'm gonna help him in whatever way I can."

_72%_

Absolute resolve and compassion rung in the teenager's voice, causing Endeavor to jerk his head back and gasp with shock. The hero's angry flames soon simmered back down to their regular size as the bowl-haired student walked away. This child... to think he'd have the nerve to talk to him in such a manner, to openly tell him his faults so directly, despite knowing who he was, the power and influence he wielded. Where did he get the idea to do this?

Mob continued to walk down the hallway and toward the exit to the ring. His thoughts were momentarily centered around Endeavor, his firm mindset on how to raise Todoroki and how he believed that he had given his son everything he could. It was that kind of mindset that made him work Todoroki so mercilessly, drilling him in teaching him how to wield his powers. Once again, his heart went out for the dual quirk-wielding teenager. Even so, he needed to focus and remember that he was here to win the sports festival and be the champion for All Might's sake, for Midoriya's sake.

The arena was building up with the greatest tension and excitement yet. All around the world, families were huddling around their screens at home, people were standing out in the streets, looking at the jumbo screens to watch as the sports festival would come to its dramatic, mind-blowing conclusion. As soon as the two competitors came out of their exits, that exhilaration only skyrocketed.

"Welcome to the final battle of the U.A. High School's Sports Festival!" Present Mic boomed, "In just a moment, we'll see just which first-years come out on top!"

"Oh my god, this is it!" a spectator said.

"This battle's gonna be the best one yet! Both of them have insane moves that can envelop the entire ring!"

"I'm still betting my money on Kageyama, but I'm definitely sure Todoroki's gonna last longer than the other fighters!"

"Yes, it all comes down to this, folks!" The expressive hero began the short introductions for both fighters. "From the hero course, Shoto Todoroki! Versus his classmate, Shigeo Kageyama!"

The tension and excitement was building in the spectator stand of Class 1-A, as well as the teacher's stand. For the students, all of them were eagerly waiting to see what kind of destructive forces the two opponents would unleash. Midoriya was contemplating what Kageyama had said before this match, the insecurity Todoroki was having regarding his left side, and if he was truly going to refrain from using it. In the teacher's stand, All Might's fists were clenched, and his heart was beginning to race. This was the big moment, the time when Kageyama would take the crown of this sports festival!

Standing alone at the top of the stands, the number two hero was similarly waiting, with his arms folded and his expression as serious and intimidating as always. He was basically expecting his son to abandon his desire to hold back, though still wasn't quite sure how Kageyama would go about this fight. What the child had said to him had managed to strike a deep nerve inside of him, and he was feeling extremely irritated at the moment. After what he'd just said to him, the number two hero had gotten quite a unique picture of the esper, and he just couldn't tell what he would do.

In the ring, both contestants felt their minds racing, each of them in their own worlds. Todoroki was still feeling doubts in himself, the insecurity lingering in his heart, wondering if he would really just use his ice for this match to defeat Kageyama. So much uncertainty, so much excitement, so much intensity was in the air for the final match of the sports festival, and it was about time for the ball to finally get rolling.

"Now, begin!"

* * *

**Boom! Kageyama decides to do something with Todoroki and has a meaningful conversation with him, understanding his pain and telling him to do what's right! Next, he breezes through his matches with Kirishima and Tokoyami, but his noble spirit still shows itself and crafts an even better image for himself! And then, there's the part with healing! How's that gonna work? What way is the story gonna be affected by this additional plot point? Finally, we get the conversation between Mob and Endeavor. Unlike Midoriya, who was only brave enough to give a few short lines to Endeavor and mildly annoy him, Kageyama just went all the way and flat-out told him every way he was being a bad father towards Todoroki! Also, in this version, Endeavor never talks to Midoriya, partly because he couldn't find him but also because he'd seen Kageyama's abilities and knew he'd make it to the finals, so he decided to just talk with him due to his greater strength. But now, the final match between Todoroki and Kageyama's gonna begin, and you'll all see how it plays out in Chapter 21 of 100 Percent Hero!**


	21. Fire and Ice

**The final match of the sports festival is here! So enjoy!**

* * *

"Begin!"

The dual quirk-wielding teenager started off by placing his hand on the ground and launching a massive ice attack. Mob was surprised that he started off with such a large-scale attack for his first move and erected a barrier. However, the ice quickly began to surround him, and within no time at all, he was completely trapped, entombed by the ice. It was very similar to the attack he'd used against Sero, but this time, his attack was more controlled, and it wasn't done with the same anger as before.

"Todoroki starts with a crazy ice blast! Kageyama seems to have been completely buried!" Unfortunately for Shoto, this attack was not enough to dominate the esper, and with a single punch, the teenager managed to shatter the ice construct. The crowd fanatically cheered, while the students in the spectator stand expressed some astonishment.

"Man, it only took him a single punch to destroy Todoroki's attack!" Tsu said.

"That's power for you," Kirishima added.

The dual quirk-wielding teenager frowned: Kageyama had enough power to easily demolish even his strongest ice attacks. That single attack had managed to significantly lower the temperature of his body, and the breath he exhaled was already frozen. If he wanted to win against Shigeo, he'd have to try and play it much smarter if he wanted to get the edge in this fight.

Mob decided to counter by using his telekinesis to float all of the blocks of ice from Todoroki's attack, and sent several of the pieces flying at his opponent. Todoroki decided to take evasive actions and created a large wave of ice to surf on while keeping his distance from the esper. The psychic teenager then decided to take inspiration from Midoriya's battle with Todoroki and threw a punch which created a large shockwave and destroyed several more of the ice blocks. Though the punch didn't possess as much power as his finger flick at 100%, it was still very powerful and possessed enough force to send Todoroki flying back and forcing him to create an ice construct behind him to prevent himself from being thrown out of bounds.

However, things were not panning out as intensely as everyone was expecting. Though the attacks being shown thus far were powerful, they were far less impressive than the feats of strength displayed by them in earlier matches. They were too simple, something that Eraserhead was picking up on.

"Todoroki's managing to do well so far, but his attacks are too simple. It almost seems as though he's lost his spark from his match against Midoriya." His assessment was exactly correct, and the esper knew it. He and the rest of the students of Class 1-A noticed the frost beginning to spread across Todoroki's body. Once again, Todoroki was refusing to use his left side for this fight.

In the dual quirk-wielding teenager's mind, he was feeling great uncertainty over the large decision he was facing. Even the esper's supportive words to him weren't enough to eliminate these emotions churning inside of him. There were still so many memories of his past, memories of his mother, feelings of resentment toward his father, so many factors still at play inside the teenager's heart that he was unable to overcome. Part of him did indeed want to win this, give it everything, but his emotions inside were just too strong.

"Come on Todoroki, Kageyama!" In the spectator stand of Class 1-A, Izuku Midoriya shouted out to his two classmates, not wanting to see either of them hold anything back for this match. After all, this was the final match of the sports festival, and these two were incredible. "Don't give up! Do your best!"

Upon hearing the green-eyed teenager's passionate words, Todoroki's muscles tightened, and the figurative and literal fire inside of him was reignited. The frost on his right side began to disappear, and the flames began to envelop his left side like in his battle with Izuku. For Shigeo, he couldn't help but give a short look towards his friend in the stands and smile: that was him, the passionate teenager who was giving everything he had into being a hero.

_73%_

But as the dual quirk-wielding teenager began to use his flames once again, a new feeling inside him began to emerge. He noticed that very little had changed in his opponent's demeanor, and other than a momentary smile and a small twinkle in his eyes towards Midoriya, he still remained as expressionless as ever.

"You heard what he said, Kageyama!" Shoto shouted, "Give this match everything!" For some reason, the feeling that he was beginning to experience was... frustration. Even though the esper had gone out of his way to be there and give him words of support, he was still a rival, someone who had defeated him very badly in the battle trial. Furthermore, unlike Midoriya, for the entire sports festival, he had seen none of the passion and determination in Kageyama, and that was something that was starting to irk him.

"You said to become a person you can be proud of. Well, I've made my choice: I'm going to take pride in knowing that I gave this match 100%, and you should do the same!"

"This entire festival, I've barely seen your expression change! For all the matches, you've just seemed so... bored. You haven't been giving it your all, just like I wasn't. So stop screwing around and get serious!" Some of Midoriya's mentality had begun to rub off onto the teenager, and even though the feeling didn't run nearly as deeply as it did for Bakugo, he still wanted to defeat Shigeo, and the words spoken by Midoriya had made him realize he wanted to beat Shigeo at his best. Kageyama's words of support were also taking their effect, allowing him to come to better terms with the use of his left side, lessening the doubt that had been plaguing him. All three of his classmates had done their part to change Shoto.

The esper's lips began to pinch together, and he turned his head to the ground in guilt. "Todoroki, I haven't been bored by the sports festival. I'm trying to do my best, I just can't..." The esper momentarily closed his eyes. He simply couldn't... feel like other people. His emotions were just so dulled, and as he'd told his three friends before, he couldn't find any burning passion to be a hero like they could. So even though he wanted to give the same passion and dedication that Midoriya gave, it just wasn't possible for him.

_81%_

Todoroki could instantly sense that there was some sort of problem, an inner dilemma that Kageyama was experiencing inside himself, and he tried to give his opponent his personal wisdom on what to do with that problem in this moment. "Kageyama, listen. Whatever problem, fear, or concern you're having, just stop thinking about it, like I did during my fight with Midoriya. Just focus on the here and now, put everything into this fight. Because if you aren't fully in the moment, you'll lose this battle!"

_84%_

In the spectator stand of Class 1-A, many of the students were surprised by the sudden change in tone from Todoroki, the way he was now beginning to sound like Midoriya during their match. Even Bakugo began to lean forward in his chair, a burgeoning interest in the match beginning to form. Up in the high row, the number two hero was grinning at first, pleased to see that his son had ignited his flames and believing with his full power, he would be strong enough to take on Kageyama.

The dual quirk-wielding teenager resumed the fight and unleashed a large stream of fire against his opponent. The esper avoided the stream of fire, and was met with another large ice attack. With Shoto using both sides now, he'd be able to unleash the fullest extent of both elements without having to worry about overexerting himself, as both sides balanced each other out. The esper punched the ice structure, destroying it with ease and sending another burst of air pressure towards Todoroki, though the student was able to erect protective ice pillars behind him.

The red and white-haired student took inspiration from Bakugo and decided to propel himself at high speed with his flames. He placed his palm behind him, and released a huge burst of flames. The force shot him forward at incredible speed, taking the esper by surprise and allowing Todoroki to land a short-range ice attack on his opponent. The esper was sent flying through the air, and the audience cheered loudly.

"And Todoroki lands a power ice blast at a short-range!" said Present Mic, "That's gotta pack a punch!"

The flame hero's grin widened: now that was the way to do it! He'd figured out a way to use his flames to increase his speed and catch Kageyama off-guard! If he continued to find ways to use his flames in such a creative fashion, combined with his ice, he'd definitely be able to overpower his opponent.

"Todoroki appears to have taken some inspiration from Kageyama's previous fight with Bakugo and propelled himself in a similar fashion," Aizawa remarked, "With his flames, he has both greater offensive capabilities and mobility. We'll have to wait and see how he uses it."

The esper used his telekinesis to stop his midair flight, and decided to send a telekinetic blast at Todoroki. The ice and fire-wielding teenager stopped himself yet again with ice constructs form behind him, though he was met with more shards of ice from his previous attacks being thrown at him once again. Todoroki retaliated with a burst of fire which evaporated the ice blocks thrown at him and forced Kageyama to dodge again.

While the teenager was using both sides of his quirk, he took note of how the esper's expression had still not changed much. If anything, it only made him even more uncertain. Perhaps it was just something that was difficult for him to overcome, and no matter what he said, Kageyama still wouldn't be able to give it his best. That was something that he understood himself, that he was very nearly prepared to do if it hadn't been for Midoriya's encouragement and the reassurance given to him with Kageyama's words earlier. Even so, Todoroki felt that he couldn't just stop using both sides now: he'd already entered the heat of the battle, and he refused to escape it.

Still, he needed a good plan to fight against Kageyama. He had to think of everything he knew about Kageyama's quirk, everything he'd seen from his previous battles what he could do with his flames. The only battle he saw where Kageyama was slightly struggling was against Bakugo, who'd managed to find out that he couldn't attack and defend simultaneously with his powers. Perhaps he could find a way to exploit that weakness too. Suddenly, an idea came to him.

The red and white-haired teenager's left side began to ignite, growing to larger size, and he then unleashed a massive firestorm onto his opponent, which enveloped the entire ring. The esper put up a barrier to defend himself, but before he knew it, he was surrounded on all sides by these flames. At first, many people gasped, believing Kageyama to have been seriously burned, but they could see the fire parting in a circular manner, meaning that his barrier was still holding.

"WHOA! Todoroki unleashes a crazy large fire attack on Kageyama! Kageyama is now bathed in flames, protecting himself with his barriers!"

"I'm only doing this because I know how durable your barriers are!" Todoroki shouted, "But as Bakugo said before, you can't attack and defend with your psychic powers, so if you want to attack, you'll have to drop your barrier, and you'll be burned! But if you keep your barriers up, the air's going to keep on heating up, making it so you won't be able to breathe! So that means your stuck! Obviously, I don't want to burn you alive, and I don't want you to burn your lungs either, so just shout out your surrender, and I'll stop the flame attack!"

The entire stadium was filled with shock: they were all extremely surprised by the way Todoroki had managed to trap Kageyama. The number two hero was brimming with pride and eagerness: his son had developed a very useful strategy with his flames and was actually able to put his opponent on the ropes. Excellent! Furthermore, while Endeavor would be unable to replicate such a strategy for long due to the burden of his quirk overheating his body from prolonged usage, his son would be able to use his right side to keep himself cool and keep up his flames for a much longer period of time. In the ring, his son realized this as well. Using both sides wasn't something he was used to, and it slowed his movements down, but in this case, it didn't make a difference, since he was staying in the same place.

"Todoroki's done his homework and actually managed to figure out a way to corner Kageyama," Aizawa said, "Impressive. I'm wondering how Kageyama's going to get out of this, if he can."

The students of Class 1-A felt their jaws drop. "Todoroki's actually able to overpower Kageyama?" Mineta said, "No way."

"Will Kageyama be able to overcome this?" Yaoyorozu said, "Or will he be forced to surrender?"

"I don't know..." The green-haired fanboy was beginning to grow quite worried. This was a very good strategy on Todoroki's part that was playing very well against Kageyama's weaknesses. This was the power Todoroki possessed using both sides, and a part of him was starting to feel guilty that he'd urged him to use both sides a few moments ago. Now his friend was in a fiery inferno, with no visible way out. In the teacher's stand, All Might was thinking the same thing, sweat beads falling down his face and his hands balling into fists. Kageyama was trapped...

Maintaining his barrier inside this inferno, the esper was feeling the immense heat and pressure of Todoroki's flames around him. He now had a better understanding of why Endeavor wanted his son to use his left side: these flames were no joke. Though they weren't nearly as intense as Suzuki's flames had been, they were still impressive in their own sense, and Kageyama couldn't overcome them easily. As Todoroki said, the air inside the barrier was beginning to grow hot, as though he was in an intense sauna. But if he released the barrier, it was likely he would get serious burns, for he did not have a very good resistance towards heat, at least not unless he was at full power.

As he was being bombarded by these flames, he remembered that Hanazawa had gone through something similar during their raid of Claw's Seventh Division. Though he hadn't seen it himself, Hanazawa had told him about his experience with the pyrokinetic esper, Miyagawa. Hanazawa had managed to get out of that situation by slowly turning his barrier against Miyagawa and putting it around the source of the flames, severely burning his opponent. But there was no way Kageyama would replicate such a strategy against Todoroki, so what options did he have then? Was he truly going to be forced to surrender?

_87%_

More than fifteen seconds had passed, and the esper was beginning to feel the effects of the heat, every breath stinging his throat. The psychic grimaced and closed his eyes in shame. Was this truly how it was going to end? Was he going to have to give up and concede victory to Todoroki, letting All Might and Midoriya down? No! There had to be some sort of way to win this! He had to overcome this! But as the esper continued to maintain the barrier, Todoroki's words rang in his mind.

_"Whatever problem, fear, or concern you're having, just stop thinking about it, like I did during my fight with Midoriya. Just focus on the here and now, put everything into this fight. Because if you aren't fully in the moment, you'll lose this battle!" _

Todoroki was right: he hadn't been putting in his full effort for the festival. He hadn't been giving it his all. That was why he had to put everything he had into the here and now, to focus only on the battle, and nothing else. That was the only way to finish this fight, to truly make Midoriya and All Might proud, and to give Todoroki the fight he wanted. He had to honor this festival and everyone else who'd given it everything by doing the same. Besides, Todoroki was strong: he could handle himself in a fight. Even so, he still had to find a way to do something. He had to think of something he could still do inside his barrier. What else did he have besides his psychic power? That's when it came to him: he had his physical strength!

"Come on, Kageyama!" Todoroki shouted, "Just give up! I don't want to seriously hurt you!" But the dual quirk-wielding was about to find that it wasn't Kageyama who needed to worry about getting hurt. From inside the barrier, Kageyama lifted his foot, and with his enhanced strength, stomped the ground. The force created from this stomp was incredible, the vibrations being felt throughout the entire stadium. The ring began to shatter: the floor was quickly becoming unstable, and Todoroki lost his footing, stopping the flaming inferno. Todoroki took quick action to recreate a stable footing, and from underneath his right foot, the entire ring was now replaced with ice. But during that brief lapse, Kageyama unleashed another basic blast of energy from his eyes, and the teenager erected a large wall of ice in front of him to defend himself, but the ice was broken through, and the air pressure from the collision sent Todoroki flying back a few meters. The audience roared, the excitement and anticipation continuing to build.

"And Kageyama manages to break free of Todoroki's flame trap with a strong stomp! I'm sure everyone in the stadium could feel that kick, cuz I know I did!"

The dual quirk-wielding teenager looked at his opponent, and as soon as he did, he could immediately tell that something in Kageyama had changed. His dull eyes were now beginning to stir, his hair standing up and his aura beginning to shimmer around him. It seemed as though his words had managed to kick something up inside of Kageyama after all, and the dual quirk-wielding teenager couldn't help but smile. Now things could really start getting serious.

The two of them rushed toward each other at blazing speed, with Todoroki propelling himself with his flames like he did before. Kageyama had stretched his arm out in an attempt to grab him similar to the way he'd done with Bakugo. Todoroki predicted this thanks to his impressive mind and analytical skills, and despite Kageyama's superior speed, was able to narrowly avoid the esper's hand and place his right hand on Kageyama's body. He then proceeded to freeze his opponent in-place with a large pillar of ice, not as large as against Sero, but still an impressive size. Alas, the esper was able to easily break free thanks to his physical strength, forcing the red and white-haired student to jump back several meters.

It was then that Shoto began to notice something else change with Kageyama, doing something that he didn't see Kageyama do that often: he began to smile. This couldn't help but cause Todoroki to smile as well, for it meant that both of them were fully in this battle. In the spectator stands, both Midoriya and All Might took notice of this, and beamed. In their eyes, it was proof of how Shigeo was taking it seriously, giving it his all and smiling in the heat of the battle, just like All Might. They didn't realize that Kageyama's smile was being driven by a more... primal emotion. It was a feeling that he'd experienced once before, a rush unlike any other.

_93%_

Todoroki attempted to employ a new strategy in an attempt to catch Kageyama off-guard. He took advantage of the ice floor that he'd created across the ring and placed his left hand on the ice, unleashing a heat wave across the entire ring. Kageyama made sure to float to avoid the heat, but before he knew it, the ice around the ring began to evaporate, creating a thick cloud of steam that began to envelop the entire ring. The crowd awed in fascination, and many of them, including the students of Class 1-A and the number two hero, were impressed by the way Todoroki was able to use his powers, blocking the esper's field of vision. Todoroki momentarily lost his footing again, since the ice made way for the fractured rock, though he was quickly about to see that a smokescreen wouldn't be enough.

The esper moved his arms slightly and clapped his hands together, this casual clap retaining enough force to instantly dispel the thick steam that had built up and fanning it all across the stadium, giving the spectators a momentary flush in their faces from the steam. Todoroki decided to repeat his previous freezing move and once again froze the ring to give himself better maneuverability, but this time, Kageyama went on the offensive with a mid-air punch that created another burst of air pressure. Todoroki used his flames to propel himself to the right and dodge.

"Todoroki used the ice he'd spread across the ring as a makeshift smokescreen by melting it with his left side," said Eraserhead, "A clever strategy, but Kageyama was able to use his physical strength to create a burst of air pressure that dispelled the smoke."

The two proceeded to engage in a fierce clash, Todoroki launching more large-scale ice attacks, larger than the attacks used against Midoriya, and Kageyama breaking them all with bursts of air pressure with finger flicks, while the dual quirk-wielding teenager kept himself in-bounds with ice from behind him. As the battle went on, Todoroki was taking note of how Kageyama's smile was getting wider, the look in his eyes more lively. It was looking rather similar to Bakugo's expression when, and for some reason, Todoroki didn't like it. It wasn't an expression that suited Shigeo. Todoroki was the only one who could see the look in his eyes up-close, so he was the only one who was uneasy with it.

_97%_

After a few repetitions of this, Kageyama decided to take action and rushed Todoroki at speeds that only All Might was able to perceive. The psychic grabbed Todoroki and attempted to throw him out similar to what he tried with Bakugo, but Todoroki ignited his flames, forcing Kageyama back. The esper then used his telekinesis to grab Shoto and throw him out of bounds, though Todoroki was able to keep himself in-bounds using his flames to propel himself forward. Kageyama attempted another flinger flick, though Todoroki evaded the attack by flying into the air using his flames. However, since his flames were only on his left side, he could not properly balance his body, and his inexperience with his flames only made it worse. His wobbly flight was obvious to everyone, and from behind him, Kageyama appeared and flicked his finger. Though Kageyama's finger didn't actually make contact with his body, the close-range force was still very powerful, and Todoroki got to experience it up-close as he was sent crashing onto the icy ground, forming more ice structures behind him and wincing in pain as his body crashed through a few of the ice structures.

As this battle continued, it was becoming more and more apparent that Todoroki was beginning to lose ground. His strongest attacks were being destroyed with ease, and Kageyama's speed and power were beginning to show. Furthermore, several of the classmates could tell that Kageyama had changed his tactics.

"Kageyama's fighting style's changed," Midoriya remarked, "He's going more on the offensive, more determined than ever to take the lead."

Watching from his corner, Bakugo couldn't help but be shocked at this newfound tenacity that Kageyama was displaying. He was giving this everything, just like he'd done near the end of their fight, and once again, Kageyama was proving how powerful he was, so-much-so that even using both sides, Todoroki just couldn't get the advantage. Watching alone, the number two hero was frowning, his muscles tensing up with frustration. His son was doing very well, and yet even using the fullest extent of his power and finding useful ways to use his left side, Kageyama was still proving to be too much. As much as he hated to admit this to himself, his son wasn't going to win this fight.

As the dual quirk-wielding teenager got up from his feet, he grunted in anger and replicated his large-scale flame blast he'd used to trap Kageyama before. But this time, Kageyama wasn't going to just be meek and defend himself with a barrier. With the passion and thrill running through him, the teenager held nothing back and met the flames on with a full punch, his body mere inches away from the flames, and as he prepared his punch, he opened his mouth and let out a maniacal laugh.

_99% Ecstasy_

The force of Kageyama's punch was incredible, far greater than his finger flicks, completely dispelling the flames and creating a very loud boom, preventing the audience from properly hearing his laughter. Only Todoroki was close enough to hear the laughter, the way he was enjoying the thrill of the battle, and hearing it sent a chill through his spine. The increased burst of air pressure sent Todoroki flying back at much greater speed, forcing him to put up larger ice pillars behind him, but even then, the force of the punch was enough to send Todoroki crashing through at least four of these pillars until he was less than a foot away from the edge of the ring. Not only that, but his stamina was beginning to fade. Using both sides to this extent was very taxing for him, even if he could negate the effects of overusing one side with the other, and his body had been sent crashing through too many blocks of ice at too high speeds. So he staggered, his body falling to the ground as he struggled to get up.

To everyone in the arena, including Endeavor, it seemed abundantly clear that Kageyama was going to take the victory, that the esper was going to be the champion of the sports festival. But they didn't understand that something had happened to Shigeo.

The esper stood in the center of the ring, his entire body stiff, his blood cold. As soon as he heard that laugh coming out of his mouth, an instant trigger had been pulled inside of him. It brought back the memory of his last experience with this feeling, during his fight with Suzuki. He thought he'd overcome that part of himself, that he wouldn't let this side of him control him, but then it had crept up on him. When he'd decided to think of nothing else but the battle, he'd begun to let loose on all his restraints, until this rush began to fill him once again. Though his laughter wasn't as loud or as unhinged as with Suzuki, and the euphoria wasn't as pronounced, the feeling was still there, and it had come very close to consuming him.

"What have I..." Overwhelming feelings began to fill his heart, feelings of shame that he'd nearly allowed himself to lose control again, feelings of guilt at the way he'd hurt Todoroki, the way he was struggling to get up, and feelings of fear, fear that if this battle went on any longer, that if there was the chance that he'd completely lose control, Todoroki and potentially the spectators would be seriously hurt. It was why he remained frozen in place, why he did nothing while he waited for Todoroki to get back on his feet, causing everyone in the stadium to look at each other in confusion. Even Endeavor's eyebrows were raised in confusion, not comprehending why Kageyama just end the fight now.

"What's Kageyama doing," muttered Izuku.

Todoroki was still getting up on his feet, and basically acted on impulse, placed his right hand on the ground and unleashed another large-scale ice attack. But as he looked back up, for a brief second, the two of them met eyes, and in the esper's eyes, Todoroki saw only fear and guilt, the brief moment before his face twisted with shame.

The spectators were waiting for Kageyama to erect another barrier, to fire off another finger flick and try to finish the fight off as quickly as possible before Shoto could get back up, but in a move that shocked every single person in the stadium, Kageyama did absolutely nothing. He let the ice attack strike him, the force of the ice attack propelling him backwards at high speeds and sending him crashing into the stadium wall, his body being dug in a few feet deep.

_100% Shame_

For a second, the stadium was absolutely still and silent. They were having trouble processing what had just happened, how this match could end like this after building up so much momentum. Being the first to compose herself and get over the shock, Midnight drew her hand into the air.

"Kageyama is out of bounds, which means... Todoroki is the winner!" The rest of the audience quickly got over the shock and began to applaud vigorously. However, there were several more people in the stadium that were still having a hard time processing this, several of those people being the students of Class 1-A.

"Man, what an anti-climactic ending to such a climactic battle," Present Mic remarked.

"Kageyama just... gave up," said Tsu.

"Why would he do such a thing?" said Yaoyorozu.

The green-haired teenager's mouth was opened, and his eyebrows were raised up. Midoriya didn't understand it whatsoever: what would compel Kageyama to just surrender, to give Todoroki the win like that? He had been determined to win this festival for All Might, so why a sudden change of heart? Bakugo was equally confused by this sudden turn of events, beginning to feel partially enraged that the esper would just hand Todoroki the win like that after making it this far.

Even the number two hero was not ecstatic with his son's victory. Contrary to that, he was feeling confused: Kageyama's decision stood contrary to everything he'd based his life on. Kageyama had the advantage, the superior strength, and he had the opportunity to display this superiority to the entire world by taking the victory and winning the sports festival, and yet, he chose not to. But why?

Todoroki was thinking the same things as his father, and even though the crowd was cheering for his victory, even though his name and face were on the large monitor, he did not feel truly happy or proud with his victory. It seemed as though Kageyama had struggled with his own internal dilemma, his own feelings, during this match. The moment that laughter escaped from his lips, that seemed to have triggered some sort of fear, trauma from inside of him, as he could vividly see when they momentarily exchanged glances. Was he... afraid of feeling the thrill of battle?

He walked to the edge of the stadium and saw the esper getting himself out of the concrete, his head facing the ground and his hair still spiked up. He quickly went to the exit, but for a split second, he could see some tears dripping down his face, and Todoroki lightly gasped. The son of Endeavor didn't think that enjoying the thrill of the battle would trigger such an emotional response for Kageyama. He began to feel bad for the esper, and also felt as though he was partly to blame. He'd been too pushy with him, he wasn't trying to understand Shigeo's pain the way his classmate had tried to understand Todoroki's pain.

"And with that, the final match is officially over!" Present Mic yelled, "The first-year champion of the U.A. Sports Festival is Shoto Todoroki from Class 1-A!"

* * *

After the final match of the sports festival had concluded, the cement ring was cleared out by Cementoss, and the ice was melted by Todoroki. All of the students participating in the sports festival made their way to the arena, while a small steel fence was put up, with multiple cameramen taking snapshots, waiting for the awards ceremony to commence.

In the sky, several fireworks and light displays were being shot off, befitting the celebrating nature of the awards ceremony. As the students of Class 1-A all stood there, many of them were waiting to see the three winners of the sports festival come up. Many of them, in particular, were waiting to see how Kageyama was faring after his loss. Though no one else besides Todoroki had seen the brief hint of tears, it was quite obvious to them that this must have been an unfortunate loss for Kageyama.

Standing in the grass, Midnight acted as the announcer for this awards ceremony. "The first-year students have completed all the events for the U.A. Sports Festival. Now it's time to relax and enjoy the awards ceremony!"

White smoke and confetti shot out into the air, acting as a dramatic reveal for the podiums that rose out of the ground, revealing the three winners. As the smoke cleared and the three students of Class 1-A were shown, many of them looked at the esper, and it was just as they suspected. His eyes were facing the ground, and his stance was defeated. After the battle had concluded, and Kageyama was shown the way to the podium where he'd rise up to the arena, the psychic had been flooded with more overwhelming feelings of guilt and failure. Not only did he feel guilty for nearly allowing himself to lose control of his psychic powers, but he also felt like a complete failure for not being able to live up to the promise he made to All Might that he'd win. The number one hero had even said himself, the next time that he'd see him, it would be when he gave him the first-place medal. Kageyama wasn't even sure if he could face All Might now.

"Tenya Iida actually shares the third-place award with Tokoyami, but unfortunately, he had to leave for familial reasons." This statement brought Kageyama's eyes up from the floor. Iida had to leave? So there was a serious family problem? What had happened?

Before he could properly stew on this question, Midnight continued speaking. "Now, let's bring out the hardware! Of course, there's only one person worthy of distributing these medals!"

From the top of the stadium, the number one hero appeared, his signature laughter reverberating all across the stadium. Kageyama's eyes immediately went back to the ground, and his body tensed up. All Might was going to be giving the awards? How was he going to explain to him what had happened in the final match?

All Might jumped on the ground while giving his signature catchphrase, though Midnight's voice overlapped with his, ruining the entrance for him. Midnight then held out the three medals for All Might to give, and he started with Tokoyami, placing the bronze medal around his neck and actually embracing him while giving him words of encouragement and advice for the future, though the teenager did not return the embrace out of slight embarrassment and respect for All Might.

Then came Shigeo Kageyama. The teenager's eyes continued to stare at the ground as he heard the number one hero approach him. From the other two podiums, Todoroki and Tokoyami peered over to see the esper's reaction.

"Young Kageyama." The esper knew he couldn't hide from this shame and decided to meet All Might's gaze. "Congratulations. You showed real heart, strength, and determination out there." The number one hero placed the silver medal around the esper's neck, but as he was doing this, Kageyama's chin began to quiver, and his eyes were beginning to gloss with water.

_6%_

"All Might, I-" The number one hero stopped the esper's sentence by embracing him. Unlike Tokoyami, the esper reciprocated the embrace and wrapped his arms around All Might. Though as the two of them remained there, All Might whispered into his ear.

"Meet me in the teacher's lounge, and we'll talk about what happened."

_10%_

The esper heeded the number one hero's words, and felt that he had to get a hold of himself, to not bawl like a baby in front of the world. He could do that later on, try to explain to All Might why he gave up, but for now, he had to get a grip of himself.

Then, for the first-place award, there was Todoroki. "And finally, young Todoroki. Congratulations." The number one hero took note of his conflicted look, a look that one wouldn't expect to see on the face of the winner of the sports festival. "I've never seen this kind of look on your face before."

Despite having won, Todoroki still had several conflicting feelings battling in his soul. The pain of his past and the memories of his mother were still fresh, and using both sides during his fight with Kageyama hadn't done anything to change that. Furthermore, he was still feeling a sense of pity and sympathy for Kageyama, who'd given up his chance to be on the first-place podium, and decided to express some of these feelings to All Might.

"Midoriya opened my eyes during our match. I was beginning to doubt myself, but then, Kageyama was there for me. To understand my pain and help me through my problems. If it hadn't been for those two, I wouldn't be standing on this podium right now. I think I get why you're so interested in both of them. Still... I don't feel right receiving this medal. Kageyama's the one who should be up here."

The young esper overheard Todoroki's words, and his heart fluttered for a brief second, appreciative of the way Todoroki acknowledged him and what he had done to help the dual quirk-wielding teenager.

"He made his choice, just as you made yours."

The first-place winner's eyes slightly lowered. "I want to be the kind of hero you are, but even now, my path isn't as clear as I thought it was. I have a lot to think about, and there's still some things I need to settle with someone, very soon."

All Might nodded and embraced the first-place winner just as he did the other two. "I won't ask for details, but trust yourself. I'm sure you'll work things out."

"Right."

With all three medals given, the number one hero looked back at the remaining students. "And here they are! The winners of this year's sports festival! But listen closely! Any of you first-years could have ended up standing on these podiums! Think about what you've done today! You've challenged each other, learned, and climbed even closer to your goal of being pros. I think the next generation of heroes is proving to be the most promising one yet! So I have one more thing to say! I want to hear everyone yell it with me! You know what it is!"

"Thank you for your hard work!"

"Plus Ultra!"

The audience immediately started booing All Might for not saying U.A.'s logo at the perfect time, with All Might meekly trying to defend himself, and several of the students getting in a few laughs of amusement. Shigeo, however, paid no attention or took no interest in this moment, for he was too wrapped up in his own emotions to think about anything else. He needed to apologize to All Might and lay out his emotions straight away.

* * *

After the awards ceremony, Kageyama quickly rushed off before anyone had the chance to give him their sympathy for his loss or try to make him feel better, as many of the students of Class 1-A wanted to try and console him after seeing his saddened look on the podium. Instead, he quickly got changed in the locker room and made his way to the teacher's lounge, which was empty. As he sat on the couch and waited for All Might, he held his silver medal in his hand and looked at it as though it was a scar, a visible representation of his failure.

After a few minutes, the number one hero entered the teacher's lounge, and frowned when he saw the way Shigeo was holding the silver medal, looking at it with guilt. Shigeo quickly looked up at All Might when he heard him enter.

"All Might-"

"Kageyama, before you say anything, I want you to know that I'm not mad at you for giving up in the final match, if that's what you've been thinking." The blonde hero walked over and sat next to the esper on the couch. "I mean, I was obviously shocked by your decision to surrender, but I know you wouldn't just give up if you didn't have a good reason. All I want to do is find out why you chose to forfeit the match to Todoroki. If anything, you looked more lively than I've ever seen you."

The esper closed his hands inward and bit his lip. "That was why I had to give up. I was... enjoying the battle too much."

This statement caught All Might off-guard for a second. Was that truly the only reason he gave up? "Enjoying the thrill of the battle isn't necessarily a bad thing. Battle can be exhilarating, a time where-"

"You don't understand, All Might." The bowl-haired teenager dropped his chin to his chest, his shoulders hunched with shame. "I experienced that pleasure for battle once before, during my fight with Suzuki in the sky. It was the first time I was able to use my powers so openly, where I didn't have to hold anything back, and... I loved it. I got fully absorbed into the heat of the battle. But I let it control me, let the pleasure of the battle completely dictate my actions. If it hadn't been for the look of shock and fear on my little brother's face, I'm not sure I would have been able to snap out of it myself. I don't know how far I would've gone, how much of the city I would've destroyed or what I would've done before I came back to reality.

"And that's what I was afraid was going to happen during my fight with Todoroki. I did just as he said, only thought of the battle, focused on the here and now, and that feeling began to creep up on me again without me even realizing it. And if I'd gone on any longer, if I'd just let the thrill of battle consume me again, I was afraid I wouldn't hold anything back, seriously hurting Todoroki and even the spectators." The esper's head fell to his lap, with his arms resting in between his head and his lap.

"Still, that doesn't change the fact that I lost. If only I had more control of my emotions, that wouldn't have even been a problem, and I could've fulfilled the expectations you had for me. You could've put that first place medal around me just like you wanted, but I ruined that. I've failed you."

_21%_

Tears began to form yet again in the esper's eyes, and his body began to shake. All Might watched and listened with silent shock. He never knew that Kageyama had gone through such emotions, that he'd experienced such an intense pleasure for battle. It seemed to have been a truly traumatic experience for him, one that weighed heavily on his soul.

The hero put his arm around the student's shoulder and let out a soft sigh. "Kageyama, don't beat yourself up about this. Sometimes, I forget that your powers can be as big a burden as they are a gift, and how much more of a task it is for you to keep control of yourself and your psychic abilities.

"Even if you didn't win, you still showed the world what you could do, the power that you wield, and your kind heart. Todoroki also told me something. He told me of how you came to him after his match with Midoriya, to extend your sympathy for his problems and to be there for him when he was starting to doubt himself."

Kageyama slowly nodded his head. "It seems as though your words of support had an equally large impact on him as Midoriya's words has been. Your compassion showed itself again, not just towards Todoroki, but for your opponents on the battlefield, and for that, I'm proud of you."

_25%_

The esper looked back up towards the hero, relieved to know that All Might wasn't mad at him and that despite losing, he was still proud of what he'd done in the sports festival, both in and out-of-battle.

"Well, at least I managed to help Todoroki, even if it was only a little," he said, deciding to try and look on the bright side.

"Exactly."

The number one hero patted the esper on the back. Mob wiped the tears from his eyes and straightened out his body. Now that Shigeo had vented his emotions to All Might, he wanted to tell him about the extremely important thing he'd discussed with Recovery Girl. "Actually, All Might, can you show me your scar?"

This random change of topic made All Might's eyebrows furrow up in confusion. "Excuse me?"

"I was talking with Recovery Girl during the sports festival, and I thought of a possible way I could use my powers to help you. If I could use my psychic powers to send signals to your body, I could command it to regrow your stomach and fix your respiratory system."

All Might gasped. "Really?"

The moody, downer attitude shown before was being quickly replaced by a sense of excitement for helping the number one hero. "If I could do that, then you wouldn't have a time limit for your muscle form, you could go back to the way you were, and you could stay the symbol of peace for much longer!"

This was quite an unexpected revelation from the esper. The idea that his body could be fixed had long passed in All Might's mind, but if it was truly possible, that would be fantastic. He'd finally be able to eat and breathe like a normal person again, and it would give Midoriya much more time to master One For All before he took the hero's place.

"So let me try it out on you right now!"

"Okay then." The hero nodded and proceeded to show the teenager his scar. Mob grimaced upon seeing the scar again: it was a truly grisly injury, and he was sure that any normal person would've likely died by now. It was why he had to do something about it right now!.The teenager placed his hands on the scar and closed his eyes.

Shigeo's hands began to glow rainbow, transferring his energy while he was repeating the order in his mind to heal All Might's stomach. The hero could feel the energy flowing through him, he wasable to feel something happening inside the place where his stomach where he used to be. He was waiting to see and feel his body fix itself, to feel the empty hole where his stomach used to be getting filled up again, but the hero could feel no substantial change occurring inside of him.

Mob could similarly tell that very little was happening. The esper grunted, pouring more of his energy into the hero's wounds and straining himself for several seconds, but he could see that this wasn't going to work, no matter how much energy he poured into it. He dropped his hands down, the somber expression from before returning.

"I wasn't able to do it," said Mob with a sour tone.

"It wouldn't make sense for it to work on the first try," assured All Might, not wanting the esper to put any sort of guilt on himself for this. "After all, this is an entirely new and complicated ability you're trying to create. But I could definitely feel something happening inside my body. With time and training, I'm sure you'll be able to master this ability and heal my injuries."

"But how do I hone this ability?"

"Maybe ask Recovery Girl, since she's a doctor and has experience healing others with her quirk. She might have some good pointers for you."

"Yea," replied Mob. He had to remain hopeful, remain committed in this mission of his to master this healing power. After all, All Might was now counting on him to do this, and he would not fail him a second time.

* * *

With the two of them having finished their discussion, the esper decided to leave and return to his classroom, where several more of his classmates were filing in after getting changed. Upon entering, several of them, such as Yaoyorozu, Mineta, Tsu, Uraraka, and Midoriya approached him and gave him their sympathy, congratulating him for his second-place victory while choosing not to pry into the reason why he decided to give up at the last second. Kageyama appreciated their sentimentality and how much they were trying to comfort him after his loss. As the rest of the class finished coming in, Kageyama and Midoriya took note of the sullen, lifeless face of Bakugo. Even now, that loss was still weighing heavily in his heart. Shigeo also took note of Iida's absence, and continued to wonder what family problem would've been grave enough to make Iida leave the sports festival. Whatever it was, it must've been serious.

After the rest of the students came in, Mr. Aizawa came in, telling the students of the two-day break they'd get after the sports festival, as well as the drafts that the pro heroes would send, which they'd be going over once they returned to school. The students quickly packed up their things and headed home. As usual, Kageyama walked home with Midoriya and Uraraka, and while they walked together, the bowl-haired teenager asked them if they knew why Iida had left before the awards ceremony.

"His older brother, Ingenium, got hurt by a villain," Midoriya said with a somber voice.

The esper gasped, and his eyes bulged open. "Ingenium is hurt? How bad is it?"

"They don't know. That's why Iida left immediately," added Uraraka with an equally somber note.

"Ingenium..." The esper remembered the utter praise and devotion Iida spoke of his brother, how similar it was to his own admiration for Ritsu. Any sort of injury to him would undoubtedly be difficult for Iida to see. "I hope that he's able to recover, that it's nothing serious."

_27%_

"Us too..." The three friends lowered their heads in concern, and for a minute or two, they remained in this silence and sadness for their friend's suffering. After this silence, however, the green-eyed student decided to break it and switch it to another topic.

"You know, I saw how Bakugo was acting after his loss against you, Kageyama, and it was really bad," Midoriya said.

"I know, right?" Uraraka said, " I haven't seen that sort of look on his face since he lost against you in the battle trial, Deku."

The esper remembered that despondent look very well, and while he did not enjoy anyone going through that sort of emotional pain, was not sure of anything he could do to try and change that part of him. "It's unfortunate that he had to experience that kind of pain in losing, and maybe I went too far at the end of the match, giving him that disapproving look, but I'm still displeased at how he hasn't changed at all, the way he insulted you and everything you've done to get here."

"Actually, I disagree." Even though what Kageyama was saying about Bakugo's attitude was partially true, Izuku felt as though his friend wasn't giving Bakugo enough credit. "It may not look like it, but he actually has changed from the way he was back in middle school."

"He has?" Instead of being ready to disagree with his friend and counter with arguments of everything he'd seen from Bakugo so far, he actually grew curious, wondering if there was indeed something in Bakugo that had changed.

"The old Kacchan used to be way more self-righteous and arrogant than before, and would usually go way more out of his way to try and make fun of me. But ever since the sludge villain attack, ever since I jumped in to try and save him, he hasn't been nearly as mean to me. Even during your fight, when he was mocking me, a part of me thinks that he was only saying those things just to get you to use your full power. The old Kacchan would've been way more vicious against me and would've slid my name in the dirt even more than that.

"And I also think that he's lost his overconfidence. Though he doesn't speak nicely to others, like with the students who came to see us after the villain attack, I think that it's more him trying to push himself to become better, to prove himself the best. I'm only able to tell these changes because I've known him for so long, but make no mistake, he's changed."

Mob was visibly startled by the explanation his friend had just given him. He was not able to detect any of these sorts of changes in Bakugo, could not see any of the ways he'd lost his overconfidence, and he felt as though he should have. Even if Midoriya had known him longer, the esper still believed he would've been able to see a change in Bakugo's behavior. But why couldn't he? This revelation began to make a pit of guilt grow in his stomach: what he'd said to Bakugo in the ring had been harsh, and if it really was false, then that only made Kageyama guilty of misjudging Bakugo.

Midoriya could see an instant change in Kageyama's expression. "Don't get me wrong: Kacchan can be a real jerk sometimes, something that I also hate, and like you said, the fact that he doesn't even remember the names of his classmates shows the way he isn't thinking of them. All I'm saying is that labelling as a complete jerk isn't accurate."

"Yea..."

The bob-haired girl could see the dampening mood, and tried to liven it up with her jubilant, positive attitude. "I'm sure that you'll become friends again with enough time."

The two male teenagers were brightened by their friend's jolly demeanor, and smiled in response. Hopefully, Uraraka was right, and that the hot-headed teenager would eventually warm up to the idea of rekindling their old friendship and accepting new friendships.

* * *

The day after the sports festival, many of the students were at home, taking it easy and relaxing after all the hard effort they'd put in preparation for the event. However, there was one student who was walking in the street, on his way to meet someone very important to him. That person was Shoto Todoroki, and he was on his way to meet his mother.

For ten years, Shoto had avoided this fateful encounter, avoided thinking about his mother in general. So much had happened after she'd burned his face. All this time, he'd believed that his left side would only bring her pain and misery, and for ten years, he'd never reunited with her. But he could no longer allow that to be the case. They were connected by blood, by the past they had with Endeavor, and that was something that he couldn't ignore anymore. If he wanted to go forward in his life, if he wanted to get a better understanding of himself and the path he was forging, he had to meet with her again.

He made it to the hospital his mother was staying, and after some shocked receptionists gave him her room, he walked up to the third floor and stood in front of her door. He made a motion toward the handle, but for a moment, he hesitated, still fearful of what might happen if her mother saw him again. But he took a deep breath, and exhaled: if he ever wanted to use this body and his powers, to become the hero he wanted to be, he had to talk with her again.

So he grabbed the handle and proceeded to open t he door, where he saw his mother looking out the window, wearing hospital clothing. His heart skipped upon seeing her, and his voice was nearly lost for a second, but he maintained his composure and found his voice.

"Hi, mom."

His mother, Rei, felt her heart stop when she heard that voice. It was deeper than she remembered, but there was no doubt who it could be. After ten years, could it really be him? Her little boy? She turned around, and sure enough, it was Shoto, all grown up.

"Shoto, it's you..."

"It's been a while..." The first thing that the teenager had to get out of the way was his guilt, the guilt he carried of avoiding her mother for so many years. "Mom, I'm sorry it took so long for me to come see you."

Rei's eyes instantly began to water, and before she knew it, tears began to flow down her face. "Oh Shoto, you don't have to apologize. I'm the one who has to apologize, for the horrible way I scarred you ten years ago." The guilt she felt far outweighed Shoto's guilt, and her tender, compassionate heart allowed her to easily forgive her son for not coming to see her all these years. This forgiveness greatly surprised the teenager, who was not expecting her mother to be so understanding.

"It's alright, mom," said Shoto with a small smile of reassurance on his face, "I know that wasn't really you, that you'd never hurt me on purpose."

The tears only increased in size, dripping down onto the wooden floor as Rei wiped her tears away, her own smile forming on her face. "Oh Shoto..."

The mother rushed toward her son and firmly embraced him, something which the teenager reciprocated. It felt so nice for Shoto to hug his mother again, to experience this warm, loving tenderness. It was something that he'd come to miss, a feeling he'd also forgotten after so many years of harsh training from his father and no genuine love from him. They stayed like this for a few moments, before Shoto broke the embrace and looked at her mother's eyes.

"There's so much we need to catch up on..." The dual quirk-wielding teenager took a seat next to her mother on the bed, where he began from shortly after her mother had burned his left side. He told her about the time he spent with Endeavor, the continued training he was subjected to, the years of focus put on enhancing his quirks to their fullest capacities and increasing his physical strength as well. He told her about the way he'd only developed his right side and held off using his left side for many years due to the animosity he held towards Endeavor, but he also told her about how he'd broken that promise during the sports festival, though he didn't specify about Izuku or Shigeo's involvement.

"Even after using both sides, I'm still so uncertain about so many things," the teenager muttered, "And I realized that I had to see you, that there were so many things we needed to catch up on, to try and make up for all the time that I chose not to visit you, to try and make up for the fact that you're even here in the first place."

"I see..." The mother rested her hands on her lap, absorbing this information. "It seems the time you've spent with your father was very harsh, just as I'd imagined and feared. I understand why you would decide not to use his power, the fact that you don't want to follow the path that Enji's laid out for you, and the uncertainty that you're facing. But remember: your destiny is still your own. Nothing his holding you back from following the path of what kind of hero you want to be. The thing that would make me the happiest, that would give me salvation, is knowing you become the best hero you could be, to become a hero you can be proud of."

The teenager lightly gasped. "That sounds similar to what Kageyama was saying..."

Rei tilted her head in curiosity. "Who?"

Shoto's mind went back to those moments when he was speaking with Izuku and Shigeo. "There're two classmates of mine, Izuku Midoriya and Shigeo Kageyama. Both of them helped me to come to terms with my left side and use it in-battle. It was during the sports festival, the annual event that U.A. High School holds, and one of the events was one-on-one combat. I'd told both of them about my decision not to use my left side, but Midoriya, instead of choosing to try and win the match himself, urged me to use my full power and to accept my left side, which I did."

The white-haired mother's lips curled up, and her face beamed. "How very special of him, to try and help you come to terms with your left side."

"It was pretty special. But Kageyama's words... I think they were even more impactful." This caught Rei's attention, and her eyebrow once again lifted up.

"Kageyama's... unlike anyone I've ever seen. He has unbelievable power, power which already puts him at a level close to All Might, and yet, he never gloats about it. Quite the opposite, he's openly stated how he doesn't view himself as better than others because of his psychic powers. He's always doing what he can to support others, ensure better cooperation with classmates, and because of that, he's been able to unite the class. But I think what's most remarkable about him is his kindness. Despite the fact that I've been cold to him, that I declared war on him during the sports festival multiple times, he still went out of his way to be there for me, to help me through my struggles.

"After my fight with Midoriya, I was beginning to doubt myself, whether or not I made the right choice. Then Kageyama came to see me: he understood the struggle I was going through, the pain of my past, and was extremely considerate of my emotions. So considerate, that he even told me I didn't have to use my left side if I didn't want to. He told me that I was the protagonist of my own story that was written only by me, that I could make choices for myself, but to make sure they were choices I could be proud of. If it hadn't been for him, I don't think I would've been able to use my flames again in the final round. His words... they reminded me so much of you, mom. "

Rei's reaction to this was much more significant: her grey eyes began to shine with a bright luster with some tears building up again, and her mouth momentarily gaped open before splitting into an even wider smile than before. "How very compassionate of him, and what powerful words he spoke. I'm glad that he was able to be there for you, to give you emotional support when I couldn't. It's very pleasing to hear that someone with that kind of remarkable strength has such a gentle heart. You've made quite the amazing friend."

The teenager nodded his head in agreement. Shigeo's words had been a very important part of his change, and thanks to his mother's words of encouragement that echoed his classmate's sentimentality, he knew that he would follow the path he carved for himself without looking back, using his left side not in order to walk down his father's path, but to follow his own, and nothing would stop him now.

* * *

**With the sports festival out of the way, things can move on to the hero internships, and we'll see just how things play out for the esper and what kind of things he'll learn! Until Chapter 22!**


	22. A New Club

Running across the beach that had once been littered by garbage, Shigeo was partaking in his daily exercises alongside All Might at the Takoba Municipal Beach Park, where they continued to train after school and on their days off. The day after the sports festival had been rather quiet, though most of the esper's thoughts were focused around Iida's brother and Bakugo's changes in behavior, as well as how he couldn't detect those changes. The night sky was wondrous, and the bright moon reflected beautifully off of the clear water. Thanks to all the training he'd done these months, what used to have brought him to the brink of collapse was now only slightly exhausted, causing the esper to brim with confidence.

The number one hero, who was running alongside him in his weak form, observed this remarkable improvement. "I remember a time where these several mile-long runs would leave you sprawled out on the ground, but look at you now! You're breezing through these runs like a champion!"

Mob's face lit up with a rare light. "I wish I could've shown this improvement to the Body Improvement Club, to see whether or not I'd be able to keep up with them now."

"I'm sure you would, but I'm also sure that I couldn't, not like this. In fact, why don't we take a little break..." The two of them sat on the white sand and enjoyed the breath-taking scenery before them.

"You and young Midoriya really did your work clearing this place up," All Might remarked, "I've noticed that there've been a lot of teen couples coming here. It's become a popular dating spot thanks to your effort. I even saw a newspaper print a story about it."

"I've noticed a lot of couples come here too," Mob replied.

"But it was only possible thanks to the hard work you and Midoriya put in: every day, you'd take the time to move that trash out of the beach. Though it may not have seemed like much in the short-run, all the incremental progress that was made paid off in the end, and it's allowing people to enjoy themselves here once again."

Kageyama's brain paused for a second, the wording that All Might had used triggering another strong realization similar to the realization he'd gotten with Recovery Girl and his healing. "That's right. The change wasn't something that occurred instantly: it was something that took time and effort to accomplish." The esper felt as though an epiphany had hit him, a problem that had been nagging him ever since he'd talked with Midoriya after the sports festival. "That's the reason why I couldn't notice any changes with Bakugo! Because my view of change is too narrow! I wasn't able to pay enough attention, observe his behavior from a different angle, too focused on immediate changes instead of looking for small ones!"

The number one hero could see that Kageyama had figured something important out, though was a bit unclear about what the esper was referring to. Shigeo looked at All Might and could tell the hero was perplexed by what the psychic was talking about. "During my fight with Bakugo, after he unleashed his Howitzer Impact, I expressed my disappointment in the way he insulted Midoriya, how he didn't remember the names of his classmates, said that he hadn't changed at all, and I actually went so far as to say he might never change. That was a really harsh thing to say, and it turned out to not even be true."

All Might pursed his lips in a straight line and slightly lifted his head down. Indeed, that was quite a dramatic statement the esper made to Bakugo that would leave quite an impact on the explosive teenager. "Bakugo does have a ferocious nature, a demeanor that demands greatness, looks down on others who don't possess great power and has a great determination to surpass those who possess equal or greater power to him. And yet, his determination to excel and improve himself is unlike anything I've encountered in anyone before, even Midoriya. He didn't need anyone to teach him that there's a difference between those who aim for the top and those who will settle, and that difference matters."

"Midoriya also talked about Bakugo like that," replied Mob. Though he'd been trying to change Bakugo and make him see the error of his ways, he now understood that the methods he were using were not the right ones, and he'd been so determined to do it his way, that he'd also blinded himself to the positive qualities that Bakugo possessed.

Despite feeling the guilt of misjudging Bakugo's positive characteristics, the esper felt as though a large weight of confusion and guilt was being lifted off of his shoulders. Now that he knew where he went wrong, where he was incorrect in his assessment of Bakugo, he could find a way to make it right, to rectify the mistakes he had made and make amends for what he'd said and done to Bakugo.

_28%_

* * *

The two-day break had gone by rather quickly, and now the students were all going back to school. As the esper was taking the train into the city and U.A. High, he was being bombarded by praise from all the passengers, who had all watched his truly remarkable performance in the sports festival.

"You're Shigeo Kageyama, right?" a passenger said, "Man, I can't believe I'm seeing you in-person."

"Your powers are really something else! I'm sure you're going to be a top hero by the time you graduate from U.A. High!"

"It sucks that you couldn't win the festival, but second place is still pretty great!"

The second-place winner of the sports festival blushed at the praise being received from the people in this train car: so he'd made an impression on these people with his powers by showing the world what he could really do, just as All Might had asked of him. At least he'd succeeded in that regard, as this support was proving him.

Shigeo's stop quickly came after, and the teenager was met with some light rain. He put up his umbrella and began his walk to school, but as he was walking, he recognized the ash-blonde hair of his classmate up ahead.

"Hey Bakugo!" The psychic waved the teenager down, for he had something extremely important he needed to tell Katsuki. The explosive student paused when he heard the esper's voice coming from behind him. He groaned in annoyance and frustration: now what was the bowl-cut going to say? Was he going to give another lecture, try to tell him that he was a crappy person, give him more threats? He was getting really tired of this repeated schtick, and was expecting more of the same stuff, which was why it was all-the-more surprising when he stood up in front of him and bowed. What the hell was this? Why was he bowing?

"I wanted to say that I'm sorry for what I said to you before in the ring." The blonde teenager gasped and recoiled in surprise: the bowl-cut was actually apologizing to him? The esper looked back at his classmate, though he could not find it in himself to stare Katsuki straight in the eye. "I was too focused on all the negative things you'd done, that I allowed my judgement to be clouded. It made me incapable of seeing that you have changed in some ways, even if you won't admit it. My understanding of change was just too narrow: I couldn't see that some people can instantly change themselves, that you couldn't just instantly change your behavior after just talking to you, that change isn't easy for you."

Shigeo quickly found the strength to look back at his classmate, and a flash of resolve was present in his eyes. "Well, from now on, I'm going to be more patient with you and wait for you to adjust yourself gradually. I also plan on being more observant of others to make sure that I don't make any determinations of character without knowing the full story. So even though I still don't agree with the way you treat others, and I still believe you should be more accepting of our classmates, I'm not going to be so harsh and judging of you any longer.

"Even though you might not feel the same, I still view you as a friend, and I look forward to the day you open yourself up to me and view me as a friend as well.

_33%_

The esper gave another quick, respectful bow to his classmate before resuming his walk to the school, leaving the explosive teenager frozen in-place, his eyes widened with shock and his body frozen. Yet again, the bowl-cut had found a way to take Bakugo by surprise and to say something he hadn't expected at all. Even now, Bakugo still never knew what to expect from him...

As the esper was walking through the street and toward the school, he came across his green-haired friend, looking rather drowsy. "Oh hey, Midoriya."

Izuku's eyes widened to full size as he tried to acknowledge his friend. "Hey Kageyama."

The esper was about to give a response, but the two classmates heard some rapidly approaching footsteps. They turned around and saw that Iida was sprinting towards them wearing a green raincoat that was covering most of his body. "Good morning, Midoriya, Kageyama!" The spectacled student raced past the two friends, and they decided to increase their pace to match Iida's.

"But there's still five minutes until the first bell!" said Midoriya.

"U.A. students should always arrive ten minutes early, don't you think!" The spectacled teenager increased his speed and left his two friends behind. Both of them exchanged looks of confusion and uncertainty: even after his brother had been injured, he was still acting like his usual self.

The three classmates all made it to the locker rooms, where they were taking off their rain gear and putting their umbrellas. As they were doing this, the bowl-haired teenager looked on at his classmate with concern, for he knew that having his brother injured at any level must've been a very traumatic experience.

"Iida, I heard that your brother was hurt by a-"

"Oh, don't worry about that." The blue-haired teenager removed the hood of his raincoat and looked at the esper with a smile and his regular expression on his face. "My brother's fine. I'm sorry if I made you concerned." Tenya walked away from the two friends, though the esper was still not very satisfied with the spectacled boy's answer. Even though Iida said he was fine, and he was acting like his regular self, the psychic was still not positive about Iida's response. Could he really be ok with what had happened? Was he able to handle this better than Kageyama could?

_35%_

"Ii-"

Kageyama attempted to speak out to his friend again, but before he could, Kirishima interrupted the esper and placed his hand on Shigeo's shoulder. "Hey Kageyama. Just the guy I was looking for. There's something I wanted to talk to you about, and we've still got a few minutes before class starts."

"Oh, sure."

"If you two've got something to talk about, I'll just head to class." The green-haired teenager decided to leave the two students to themselves and walked out of the locker room. The esper decided to take a seat on the benches, curious to know what this was all about.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Kageyama said.

"Well..." Kirishima sat beside his classmate and decided to express the thoughts that had been stirring around in his mind during the two-day break. "I had some time to think during the break about everything you've said, the way you want to continuously improve yourself. Your manly words have managed to bring the class together in a pretty big way, remind them that we're all in this together. Then I remembered what you said about the club in your middle school, the Body Improvement Club. Those guys also sounded like real men, committed to improving themselves and making sure to pick up the other members when they fall down. And suddenly, an idea came to my mind." The red-haired student lifted his finger into the air. "What if we started our own Body Improvement Club?"

_36%_

"Our own Body Improvement Club?"

"Yea! I think it'd be another great way to bring our class together, and it'd also make our bodies stronger. I looked into it a little on my own, and found out that the hero course can't have any official clubs, so it would just be an unofficial club comprised of our classmates and maybe some of the students of Class 1-B if they really wanted. And you would be the president! Doesn't that sound badass?" Kirishima gave a hardy pat on the back to Shigeo.

"So whaddya say?"

The esper remained silent for a moment, contemplating what Kirishima had just told him. Truth is, he'd never considered restarting the Body Improvement Club on his own. Once he'd been transported to this reality, he'd thought that part of him was gone as well, even though he still worked out relentlessly with Midoriya. But to begin the Body Improvement Club again? And as the leader no less? He'd never held a leadership position before, and the idea of leading a new Body Improvement Club definitely sounded difficult.

But at the same time, a part of him also felt excited about it. He'd truly enjoyed his time with the Body Improvement Club, created many fine memories and strong bonds with all of them. They'd all been there for him, been a positive influence and showed him what it meant to improve himself, to continue to persevere against all the odds and against all the pain to push his body harder and harder, to never give up. The Body Improvement Club had been a pivotal role in his progression as a person, and if a new body improvement club could be made with students from Class 1-A, they would not only strengthen their bodies, but their bonds and their hearts as well.

With all the positives outweighing the minor negatives, Mob looked back at his friend and gave him a smile of agreement. "Let's do it!"

_39%_

"Awesome, baby!" The red-haired teenager got up from his seat and pumped his fist in the air. "Now that's what I'm talking about! That's what I like to hear! Since you're the one who was actually part of the Body Improvement Club, I'll leave it to you to decide how the exercises are gonna work, what kinda training we're gonna do, what time we'll work out, things like that. Meanwhile, I'll focus on getting people to join the club and convince them how awesome it'll be. Sound like a plan?" Kirishima put his hand out to give his friend a good handshake, and with a brimming face, the esper returned the manly handshake.

"Good! Now, we should get going to class!" Shigeo and Eijiro got their things together and headed for their classroom, and when they got there, they found their classmates talking amongst themselves, about the way the citizens had reacted to their presence and their performances in the sports festival. The two teenagers took their seats, and very shortly after arriving, the homeroom teacher also entered the class. Many of the classmates took note of his recovered state, particularly Shigeo.

"I'm really glad to see that you're not wearing your bandages anymore," Shigeo said.

"The old lady went a bit overboard on the treatment," the teacher replied, "Anyway, we have a big class today, on hero informatics." Many of the students were fearful of this wording, feeling that whatever it was, it couldn't be good.

"You need codenames. Time to pick your hero identities." The class all bounced up with excitement, relieved to know it wasn't something difficult and requiring much brainpower, but the teacher quickly brought order back to the class by turning his quirk on, lifting his hair up as well. "This is related to the pro-hero draft picks I mentioned the last time we were in class together. Normally, students wouldn't have to worry about the draft pick until the second or third year, but your class is an exception. In fact, by extending offers to first-years like you, pros are investing in your potential."

"Now, here are the totals for those of you who got offers." Aizawa took out a remote and showed the results on the blackboard, which went as followed:

**Kageyama: 6,985**

**Todoroki: 4,728**

**Bakugo: 3,082**

**Tokoyami: 371**

**Iida: 301**

**Kaminari: 272**

**Yaoyorozu: 108**

**Kirishima: 97**

**Sero: 14**

Many of the students were quite shocked, some of them disappointed at the fact that they hadn't received any offers despite their performances and despite the fact that some of them had qualified for the third events, those people including Aoyama, Ashido, Uraraka, and Midoriya. From behind him, Mineta was shaking the discouraged Midoriya, rubbing some salt in the wound by telling him the reason he likely didn't have any nominations was because of the way he injured himself by using his attacks.

Bakugo, on the other hand, was surprised at the fact that he'd received more than three thousand nominations from heroes despite the fact that he'd lost to the bowl-cut in the first match of the third event.

"You got three thousand offers? That's really impressive," said Kirishima, "Guess it's because you performed so well against Kageyama and actually kept him on his toes."

"Check it out! Kageyama got almost seven thousand offers!" The electricity-wielding student expressed his amazement at the high number of offers. Midoriya also took note of this, baffled by how many offers the psychic had received, and thanks to his nerd brain when it came to everything about heroes, he knew something about this that was even more astounding.

"There're about seven thousand hero agencies in Japan, so that means Kageyama was scouted by almost every hero agency in Japan!" The fanboy's statement elicited several gasps from most of the students, and the esper's head jerked back in shock. Almost every hero agency in Japan had sent him an internship? Despite the fact that he'd failed to win against Todoroki and take first place, he was still able to impress all those heroes? This managed to take away the large weight of guilt he'd been feeling ever since his loss: even though he didn't win, he'd still done as All Might had said and showed what he could do to the entire world.

Even so, a new feeling of shock was setting in. Midoriya hadn't gotten a single offer from any heroes. So did that mean he couldn't intern with any heroes? As it turned out, he was wrong.

"Despite these results, you'll all be interning with pros," said Aizawa, "Even those who didn't receive any offers.

"You already got to experience combat against real villains during the attack at the U.S.J. facility. But it'll still be helpful to see pros at work. Up close, in-personal, in the field, which is why you'll need hero names. These hero names will likely be temporary, but take them seriously, or-"

"You'll have hell to pay later." Entering through the door was the dominatrix hero, looking as revealing as always with her hero costume, which some of the more women-savy students such as Mineta, Kaminari, and Sero, always enjoyed seeing. "What you pick today could be your codename for life. You better be careful, or you could be stuck with something utterly indecent for life."

"She's got a point," the unkempt hero said, "Midnight's gonna have approval of all your names, since it's not really my forte.

"The name you give yourself is important. It helps reinforce your image and shows what kind of hero you want to be in the future. A codename tells people exactly what you represent. Take All Might, for example."

The bowl-haired student started to think deeply about this as he was being handed a whiteboard and a marker to write down his hero name. Mr. Aizawa was correct: this wasn't something that could just be done haphazardly. He needed to think hard about what his hero name would be. It had to be something special, something that represented exactly who he was, who he wanted to be.

The first one to go up was Aoyama, whose hero name was "I Can Not Stop Twinkling." Though it seemed ridiculous to the whole class, Midnight seemed to think it was on the right track, only making a few changes to make it roll off the tongue easier. And so, one-by-one, the students all went to the front of the classroom, each of them trying to overcome their nerves of going up and trying to think of a clever name. A few of them were clever, such as Tsu's name, Froppy, and brought cheering, while others were not as creative or unique, such as Shoto's hero name, which was just simply his name. Still, this wasn't making it much easier for Shigeo to come up with his hero name. Would he just have it be something related to his psychic powers? Could it be something that simple? Still, he felt as though there had to be more heart, more meaning to his hero name. Shigeo hoped that someone would come along and give a hero name that could give him a flash of inspiration.

After enough time, the only ones that were remaining were Shigeo, Izuku, Tenya, and Katsuki, whose name was not viewed by Midnight as acceptable. So then Tenya went, and he chose his hero name as his regular name. Next came his friend: now this was someone that he'd been waiting for. Not only was he curious what he'd choose his hero name to be, but he was hoping to get some inspiration from him with his hero name.

The fanboy went up to the front of the class and showed the name he chose to everyone: Deku. The class, and even Shigeo, was surprised at the choice Midoriya made.

"Really? You sure about that?" said Kaminari.

"That could be your hero name forever," added Kirishima.

"Right. I used to hate it, but now I realize it could have a different meaning, and that had a huge impact on how I felt, so now I really like it. Deku, that's my codename." The esper's eyes widened, his dull eyes sparkling very lightly. He knew that it was Uraraka who'd helped with this, who'd helped him to see that the name given by Bakugo could mean something more than just an insult. He looked back, and sure enough, Uraraka was beaming with a large smile on her face. Deku was now a name that meant something to him. So what name held meaning for Shigeo? What was a name that was important to him? More than that, what was a name that could represent who he was and who he wanted to be? There had to be something he could think of!

After Izuku took his seat back, it was finally Shigeo's turn to go up and announce his hero name. "Kageyama, are you ready?" Midnight said.

The dominatrix hero had caught Kageyama just in the middle of the revelation for his hero name, and was vigorously writing on his whiteboard. He'd got an idea for a name that combined all the ideas and inspiration that he believed would best represent the kind of hero he wanted to be. Shigeo went up to the front of the classroom, and showed the rest of his class his hero name.

"I'm the 100 Percent Hero: Mob Psychic." The classmates all exchanged looks of confusion. What did he mean with the 100 percent part of the title?

"This name... it's a promise. A promise that I'm going to give being a hero 100%, all the time, no matter what, just like all of you. The second part, Mob, is also another name that holds importance to me, and I think it has to be part of my codename too. The last part was just a split-second addition I thought sounded cool. Though I guess to save time, you could just call me Mob."

The class's entire disposition became positive, and many of the classmates split their faces with wide smiles, with Izuku's smile being the widest. Even Iida, who was too focused on his feelings about his brother and the sadness he felt, paid attention and showed a brief smile before returning to his neutral expression. The classmates then began to chant Shigeo's hero name.

"Mob! Mob! Mob! Mob! Mob!" The esper felt another light blush grow on his cheeks while he rubbed the back of his head and took his seat. Katsuki was the last one to go, though his hero name was basically the same as before, and was therefore not accepted by Midnight. Still, with those matters out of the way and every student baring the explosive teenager having picked their hero names, next came the draft forms for the internships. The unkempt hero passed out the forms, which had the names of all the hero agencies listed. However, for Shigeo, since he had so many offers, the list of hero agencies were actually three pages long.

Many of the teenagers were speaking amongst themselves as this happened and they looked over the list of hero agencies. While this was happening, the esper was trying to sort out all the hero agencies in his head, but it was too difficult for him. More than ninety five percent of the listed agencies were heroes that he didn't even know about, so he had absolutely no way of knowing which of these agencies was the best pick. He'd have to ask All Might for some help with this after school. Actually, there was someone else who he had to meet with first, to help with something else that was very important, something else that had been on his mind for the past two days.

* * *

The school day passed by rather quickly, with most of the day being spent looking over the internship options. Once school was over, Shigeo was one of the first to leave the class with a hurried pace in his steps. Where was he going at such a fast speed? The nurse's office, to see Recovery Girl. There was still the very important matter of the healing that hadn't worked on All Might. Getting this ability mastered was something that he needed to get done as soon as possible, for the sake of All Might to ensure that his body be restored to the way it was, but to do that, he'd need some help.

"Recovery Girl?" Mob opened the door to the nurse's office and found the school nurse at her desk, doing some paperwork.

"Oh, Kageyama. How can I help you today?"

"Well..." The bowl-haired student closed the door and took a seat next to the nurse. "I tried to heal All Might's injuries, but I wasn't really able to do anything, so I was wondering if you could give me some tips or advice on how to hone this healing power, you know, since you have a healing quirk and you're a nurse."

"Hmmm..." Recovery Girl rested her chin between her hand and pondered for a moment. "You're planning to use psychic signals to the body to command it to heal itself. To do that, I believe that you'll have to know exactly what you're sending signals to."

"You're saying that I should learn about the organs and structure of the human body?"

"I think that would help you master that power. If you'd like, I can teach you about the human anatomy."

"You'd really do that? You're sure it won't take too much time?"

"Being the school nurse doesn't leave me with too much to do, besides treating that reckless boy, Midoriya. I'd be happy to teach you a thing or two about the human body."

The esper's dull eyes lit up with appreciation, and his voice began to lighten up. "Thank you, Recovery Girl."

The school nurse similarly beamed with a pleasant aura. Shigeo was a very gentle spirit who was committed to helping others and doing whatever he could for those he cared for, and the dedication was being shown yet again. Recovery Girl could tell that this child would accomplish great things, both as a hero and as a healer. "Well, let's not waste any time dilly-dallying and get started right away."

* * *

The next two hours were spent in the nurse's office, going over the material in a large medical book with multiple diagrams of the human body. Recovery Girl decided to focus the teaching on the stomach as well as the other intestines, such as the gall blader, liver, and kidneys. However, his limited intelligence made it rather difficult for him to grasp some of the concepts and how the specified organs worked. Even so, he now had a general basis of these organs, which could give him a better grasp on regenerating those body parts with his powers. And if he had Recovery Girl to teach him, that would make things go by even smoother.

Despite how difficult the lesson had been, Mob knew that the day was not over: there were still some other extremely important things that he needed to get started on, and he'd need All Might's help to do it. The first thing was to decide which hero agency he wanted to go to.

The esper entered the apartment to find All Might relaxing on the couch with his tie loosened and his body slouched. But his body quickly went into a straight position when he saw Shigeo enter the room.

"Young Kageyama! How was your day? More importantly, how many internships did you get?"

"Almost seven thousand." The number one hero comedically spat out blood when he heard this ridiculously high number of offers that had been extended to the esper.

"Well, you certainly made the impression I was hoping for with all those heroes!"

"That's actually what I was hoping you'd help me with. I don't really know which hero agency to choose."

"Sure thing!" The esper took the registration form and the list of agencies who'd sent him offers out of his backpack while All Might got a pen from nearby. The number one hero took the three pages of hero agencies in his hand and started looking down the list of heroes.

"Wow, even I don't know most of these heroes. They all must be pretty desperate to get the chance to get you on as an intern, since they obviously saw your limitless potential. Still, you're going to want a high-ranking hero, one with plenty of experience. I don't think getting stronger is what you should focus on, but rather, getting experience, judgement, and proper analysis skills, which is what I think you need most. Even though you've already fought plenty of villains, I still think the right hero will allow you to widen your field of vision and sharpen those skills. Now let's see which one would be best..."

The hero put the hero agency lists on the desk, allowing both of them to look at all the agencies. All Might scrolled down the list with his finger, momentarily pausing for some of the higher ranking heroes, but still not viewing them as the right picks. But then, he let a short bark of triumph when he came across a very high-ranking hero agency.

"Here's a great match! Hawks!"

"Hawks?"

"He's the number three hero who's renowned for his remarkable speed and sharp senses. I've heard that he's so fast, most of his interns can't even keep up with him, though I'm sure that won't be a problem for you. He started his own hero agency when he was eighteen, and rose to the top ten in only half a year, making him the youngest person ever to accomplish this, an extremely impressive feat that demonstrates his keen intuition and sharp instincts. If you interned with him, I'm sure you'd pick up a lot of important pointers."

The bowl-haired psychic saw no reason to object to the symbol of peace's suggestion and nodded his head in agreement, taking the pen and writing down the hero's name on the registration form. Shigeo didn't put much thought into a possible alternative, for he wanted to move on to the other important thing that had been on his mind.

"All Might, I also wanted to talk to you about a new Body Improvement Club that I'm thinking of creating."

"A new Body Improvement Club?"

"Kirishima suggested the idea and that I'd be its leader. I need to come up with all the workouts and the schedule, which isn't really the hard part. The hard part..." The esper's head tilted down and his eyebrows furrowed down. "The hard part is being a good leader. I've never had to lead anyone before, and I think this club is going to need a good leader if the members are going to properly strengthen themselves. I want to be that leader. I want to be as good a leader as Captain Musashi was, but I just don't know how to do that. So what do you think it takes to be a good leader?"

All Might could see the insecurity laced in Shigeo's voice: even now, the esper did not possess a great deal of confidence in himself. "First, try to reflect on the previous captain's leadership, since he seems to have inspired you quite a bit. What qualities does he possess that makes you want to be a leader like him?"

"Well..." The esper thought hard on this question and tapped his chin repeatedly. "He's always radiated this sort of strength and confidence. His determination to improve himself and become physically stronger was also really inspiring. He felt like someone who you could rely on, no matter what."

"You've just described it perfectly," the hero said, "While there're other important factors in leadership, I believe the most important part is having confidence. You must be able exude that same kind of confident aura, to take pride in yourself, knowing that you're a prime example of someone with a strong body, developed through hard work and determination."

The esper looked at his empty hand and clenched it with determination: All Might was right. He needed to be more confident in himself. Even though he'd once been physically weak, he'd overcome his weakness and become a stronger person. If he wanted to continue improving himself, this was his next step he needed to take: to learn how to become an effective leader who inspired his club members just as his previous club members had inspired him.

_44%_

* * *

The next few days were spent working as hard as possible for Shigeo, making the proper schedule of the list of exercises for which days, how long the runs would be, and which muscles the exercises would be working. What time wasn't spent on working on the development of the Body Improvement Club was spent diligently reading about the human anatomy, as well as a few online articles about being an effective leader. Because of this hard-set determination in creating this new club and researching more about the human body, it left no time at all to pay attention to Iida and his feelings on his brother. He'd heard from whispers that the one who attacked him was someone named Stain, but he didn't pay much attention beyond that. Usually, that would be his first priority, but Iida seemed to have been managing his emotions rather well when he first saw him, and he had his family to help him through his problems. These were the excuses he was making to himself to focus on the other important things he needed to do, mainly heal the number one hero. All Might was his mentor, the one who'd been there to help him when he was at his lowest in this world, and helping him get him back to his old self was something he needed to do. For the esper, that was priority number one.

He was so consumed with his work that he also didn't watch any television, so he didn't see the news report about the extensive damage to Ingenium, which is why he didn't find anything odd about the fact that Iida chose Hosu City for his place to intern. There had also been an amateur video taken by a bystander after the fight between Ingenium and Stain: though the citizen was only able to capture a brief moment, they recorded the Hero Killer standing victorious over the hero, particularly the small speech that he made about false heroes in this society.

When making all the details of the new Body Improvement Club, he also decided to appoint a vice president for this club, with the obvious choice being Midoriya, and the fanboy obviously accepting the position. He was likewise surprised to hear about a new Body Improvement Club, and was also somewhat excited about the prospect, having heard many good things about the previous Body Improvement Club from Shigeo. At first, he felt partly guilty that he didn't make Kirishima the vice president, but the red-haired student was surprisingly accepting of this once Mob broke the news to him. Kageyama kept in contact with Kirishima and gave him the information for the meeting time, which was after school on the day before the internships began. Now all that was left was to see who had actually decided to join the club.

The day before the internships had come, and Shigeo was waiting out in the entrance of the gym alongside Izuku to see who had decided to join the new body Improvement Club.

"I'm feeling kinda nervous for this," Midoriya remarked, "Do you feel the same?"

"Mm-hmm," Mob replied, "I'm still worried if I'm gonna be able to be a good leader."

"Come on, don't beat yourself up." The fanboy gave a firm pat on the back to his friend as a move of reassurance, "You're gonna be great."

Shigeo gave his friend a shaky smile and a soft nod before stiffening his body. No, he would be a good leader! He needed to believe that he could be a good leader in order to improve himself, to show that he had the skills to lead others!

The first two to show up were Kirishima and Tetsutetsu, though the appearance of the student from Class 1-B was greatly shocking for the two leaders of the Body Improvement Club.

"Tetsutetsu? You want to be a member of the Body Improvement Club?"

"Kirishima told me about the club, and soon as I heard about it, I thought about how manly it sounded. At first, I was kinda put off that most of the members would be from Class 1-A, but then I started to realize that maybe Class 1-A isn't all that bad. The only bad apple seems to be that Bakugo guy, and if there's a manly guy like you who's leading this club, then I don't have a problem with it!"

The esper lightly gasped at first, but his face quickly brightened and a small smile appeared. He held no animosity towards anyone from Class 1-B, and if Tetsutetsu wanted to improve his body, then Shigeo would be more than happy to accept him.

"I'm glad you decided to join." Shigeo placed his hand out to give the student from Class 1-B a firm handshake. Tetsutetsu reciprocated the small smile and the handshake while Kirishima watched the manly displayed and nodded his head in approval.

"How manly," Kirishima said.

"So who else decided to join the club?" said Midoriya.

"You're about to find out." The red-haired teenager pointed to some of the faces that were coming in. The next one to appear was Tokoyami. The avian student was aware of his physical weakness, and when he heard of this Body Improvement Club that was being started by Kageyama, he viewed it as a good opportunity to overcome this weakness and strengthen his body.

The next three people to come were Uraraka, Tsu, and Yaoyorozu, and even Kendo. The fourth girl was also another shocking member that the esper was not expecting to join this club.

"Kendo, right?"

"You got it!" The ginger-haired teenager stretched her arms behind her head. "I overheard Kirishima talking to Tetsutetsu about this club and thought it sounded pretty cool, so I decided to join up!"

"And the three of us also thought this was a great way to get stronger," Uraraka added, "The Sports Festival showed me that I still have a long way to go in terms of physical strength."

Shigeo was pleased to see that there were girls who were also committed to improving their bodies, whereas his previous Body Improvement Club had only boys as members.

"Is there anyone else coming, Kirishima?" said Kageyama.

"Just one more, and I pretty surprised that he wanted to join."

The esper curved his eyebrow up in curiosity, but when he saw the last person to come, he understood what Kirishima was talking about. It was the dual quirk-wielding teenager, his usual cold glance not as pronounced. "Todoroki? You want to join the club too?"

"Well..." It turned out, the esper's words managed to have more an impact than just following his own path. Todoroki realized that he had indeed been too cold, too distant from others due to the intense hatred for his father being the only thing on his mind. Kageyama's final words to Shoto, reminding him that he was not alone at this school, that he had his classmates and friends at this school. He needed to value the interactions with his classmates more, so when he heard about this Body Improvement Club from Kirishima, he decided to use is at his opportunity to strengthen his body and the bonds with his classmates.

The red and white-haired teenager looked at the leader of the Body Improvement Club and curved his lips up, his eyes not displaying their usual coldness. "I heard about this new club from Kirishima and thought it would be a good after school activity."

The esper noted Todoroki's lighter demeanor and softer eyes. He could tell that Todoroki was beginning to open himself up more with his classmates, that he was using this opportunity presented to him as a means of connecting with his classmates, compared to the isolated, detached teenager he'd known before, and the esper's smile widened.

"So is this everyone, Kirishima?" Shigeo said.

"That's everyone that wanted to join," replied Kirishima.

"Alright." With everyone who signed up having already arrived, the new members all decided to huddle up, and all their eyes were now on the esper. With all the attention being focused on him, Shigeo momentarily tensed up and began to build up a sweat, the nervousness budding up like usual. However, Mob quickly got a hold of himself, puffing his chest up and straightening his body. He needed to present himself with confidence, just like All Might had said, and give his club members some inspiring words. He'd been preparing for this moment! He was ready to lead!

"I'm really glad to see all of you came out here today," Shigeo started, "When I first joined the Body Improvement Club in middle school, I had basically no stamina and often got anemia. I wasn't able to make it this far on my own. It was only because my fellow club members, my friends were there to support me, to pick me up whenever I fell down." Shigeo momentarily paused and exchanged a glance with Izuku before drawing his attention back to the rest of the members. "So remember, the most important part of this club is helping each other out, being there to push us all harder so we can all become stronger together."

The energy of the club members began to rise, each of them beginning to feel more pumped up and brimming with joy. Shigeo picked up on this increased jubilance, which only increased his own joy. Shigeo attempted to use this growing joy in an attempt to impassion himself and continue building up the energy.

"The club has a mantra that we would always chant: Body Improvement! Fight on! So I want us all to chant it together: Body Improvement!"

"Fight on!"

Shigeo still tried to continue building the energy, attempting to stir up whatever passion he could muster inside his heart. "Louder! Body Improvement!"

"Fight on!"

Midoriya, who was also feeling the building rush, followed his friend's lead. "One more time! Body Improvement!"

"FIGHT ON!" All the members pumped their fist in the air, many of them brimming with passion, so-much-so that even other taciturn individuals such as Tokoyami and Todoroki were being caught up in it as well and feeling a more diluted form of this passion, while the more energetic individuals such as Kirishima and Tetsutetsu were absolutely bursting with this positivity and emotion. With the energy having been brought up to the max, Shigeo decided to start them all on the five kilometer run that he had mapped out.

"Alright, everyone! We're gonna start our five kilometer run, so just follow me! Body Improvement!"

"Fight on! Fight on! Fight on! Fight on!" The new Body Improvement Club had now officially begun their first practice, running at full speed right behind Shigeo with their passion running deep within their hearts. With their determination to improve themselves and the bonds of friendship they each carried with one another, this club would accomplish great things, Kageyama knew it.

_49%_

The rest of the practice went very well: after the five kilometer run, the Body Improvement Club went to the school gym, where they began doing some weightlifting exercises focusing on the chest and shoulder muscles while also doing some squats. Some of the members were having a difficult time, but they had their other club members to help them push themselves to their limits. By the time the club was over, all the members were sweating like pigs, but they all had smiles on their faces. All of them were happy they'd been able to work hard together and push each other to become stronger. And seeing all those smiles couldn't make Kageyama happier either.

* * *

The next day was finally internships. Having packed all their belongings and their hero costumes, the students of Class 1-A all went to the train station. Almost the entire way, Shigeo was on his phone, looking about more information about the respiratory system, the anatomy of the lungs, and how oxygen was transported through the body.

At the train station, Mr. Aizawa was standing with his students, who were all eager for their internships to begin. Even then, Kageyama was in the back of the pack of the students alongside Tokoyami, still looking over the anatomy of the lungs on a medical website.

"Everyone has their costumes, right?" said Aizawa, "Remember, you don't have permission to wear them out in public yet, and don't lose them or anything."

"Gotcha!" a bubbly Ashido said.

"Speak properly: it's yes sir, Ashido."

"Yes sir," she replied with a pouty face.

"Make sure you mind your manners with the other heroes during your internships. Now get to it."

"Yes sir!" With that out of the way, all of the students went their separate ways. Kageyama, however, was so engrossed with his activity that he didn't even realize that his classmates had all left. Tokoyami had to tap him on the shoulder to snap him out of it.

"Kageyama."

"Oh, huh?"

"We must be heading out for Q chute."

"Right."

"You know, I've noticed you've been on your phone, even while Mr. Aizawa was talking. You were fortunate that he didn't spot you, or else you would've been severely reprimanded. So what exactly has been occupying your attention?" The avian student peered over to see Kageyama's phone screen, and curved his eyebrow in confusion when he saw an image of the human lungs on the screen.

"You've been looking at the human anatomy?" said Tokoyami.

The esper awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, unable to think of a proper explanation for this and merely gave a mediocre excuse, "It's just something I've been getting interested in."

Tokoyami looked at him with a bizarre look for a moment before merely shrugging his shoulders. "Well, don't be too distracted. We don't want to be late for the train at the q chute. After all, we have a long train ride."

The two teenagers began walking towards the train, though Kageyama was still engrossed in his phone despite what Tokoyami had said. He'd been so engrossed with his research that he'd completely forgotten to say farewell to his friends like Iida. Though he didn't realize it now, in the coming days, Kageyama would sincerely regret not having paid more attention to Iida's problems.

* * *

**And look at that! A new Body Improvement Club, how does that sound? Even a few students from Class 1-B decided to join in on this fun club! And what do you think of Kageyama's internship choice? I noticed a lot of people suggesting Mirko as his internship, and I thought it was an interesting suggestion, but I've had Hawks in-mind for a while now, and I also really like his character. Now you'll get to see just how Shigeo is going to far ein this internship in Chapter 23!**


	23. Take Flight

With all the students having each gone their separate ways to their internships, the two classmates, Kageyama and Tokoyami, were both sitting together on the train, which was less than ten minutes away from their destination: Fukuoka, a city in Kyushu, Japan.

The train ride had been extremely long, consisting of more than five hours of waiting. At first, Shigeo continued reading about the anatomy of the lungs, but eventually, his brain was fried, so he decided to take a nap. Once he'd woken up from his nap, he found Tokoyami staring out through the window, listening to his music. Shigeo decided to do the same thing and watch a movie online through a streaming service. Thanks to this, the time managed to fly by rather quickly, and before they knew it, the city was in their sights. When Tokoyami saw the city in his sights, he decided to put his headphones away and engage in dialogue.

"It seems we're very close to our destination. Perhaps only ten more minutes until we arrive," said Tokoyami.

"Mm-hmm." The esper had been surprised when he found out he'd be interning with the same pro as Tokoyami. He wondered how things would go with the two of them working under Hawks, whether or not they'd have to work together during the internships and how things would go with this pro. "I wonder what Hawks is like. I heard that he's extremely fast."

"Indeed. His remarkable rise to the top 10 was something else that interested me, though the primary reason I chose him was because of the amazing skills and speed that got him to that position. After all, 'tis skill, not strength, that governs a ship.

"However..." The avian student tilted his head down and his face began to slightly pout, confusing the esper. "I find it very likely that he'll pay much more attention to you. You possess similarly remarkable speed, and he was obviously impressed like the six thousand other hero agencies who sent you offers. After all, you are far stronger than me in almost every way."

The bowl-haired student did not like the way his friend was talking, the way he was putting himself down like this. "Come on, Tokoyami. Don't put yourself down like that. We're interning together, and we're both friends. There's no way I'm going to let a friend not get the most he can out of this experience. You deserve this opportunity just as much as I do."

Fumikage gave a rare smile to the esper, happy to hear Shigeo trying to lift his spirits. "Thank you, Kageyama."

The two teenagers made it to the end of the track at last, where they got off. Tokoyami decided to look up the directions to Hawks' agency on his phone, and fortunately for them, it was only a ten-minute walk. Even as they were taking a leisurely walk, there were still several people who recognized them from the Sports Festival and complimented their performances. They smiled and waved at these citizens in gratitude, mildly surprised that their performances in the Sports Festival had managed to attract such attention.

"Here we are." The avian teenager let Kageyama know that they'd arrived, but the esper didn't need his friend to tell him that. The number three hero's agency was very tall, possessing a sleek, black design that was quite distinguishable in the crowd of other buildings. When the two students entered the building, they found the interior to bear reminiscence to a regular office building. They saw several different people wearing costumes, and could immediately figure out that they were sidekicks. There was a reception desk several meters away, and when the receptionist noticed them, she instantly recognized him and called Hawks upstairs. Similarly, a few of the interns noticed the two powerful students arrive and quickly approached them.

"Kageyama and Tokoyami! Both of you are interning here? What a surprise!"

"You guys showed some really great stuff in the tournament!"

"Hawks'll be down pretty shortly. He'll be pretty excited to meet both of you."

"Hey, you two!" The number three hero, Hawks, his real name being Keigo Takami was able to deftly fly down the many stairs of his building, arriving even more shortly than expected. The two student interns got a good look at the hero they'd signed up with: he wore a black shirt with a wavy golden pattern like a ripple in a pond, which was worn over by a tan jacket with a high collar. He wore a pair of yellow headphones over them, along with a shaped, yellow-tinted visor protects his eyes. He had ash, blonde hair that was messily swept, which matched well with his golden-brown, triangular-shaped eyes. His most notable feature was his set of very large bright red wings which extended all the way down to his boots. "Welcome to my hero agency. You like the digs?"

"Yes, it is a very nice agency you have," replied Tokoyami, attempting to be courteous.

"When I saw that the two of you had accepted my offers, I thought it was pretty sweet that I'd taken in two of the winners of the Sports Festival. I also sent Shoto an offer, so if he'd accepted it, I would've had all the champions of this year's Sports Festival interning at my agency, which would've been a pretty nifty fun fact to carry with me. It's a bit of a bummer, but I've still got some great talent interning at my agency." The winged hero pointed his fingers out at the two teenagers.

"Since we're getting to know each other, what're your hero names?"

"I'm the Jet Black Hero, Tsukuyomi."

"I'm the 100 Percent Hero, Mob Psychic, or just Mob for short."

Hawks nodded in approval at the names he heard. "I'm liking what I'm hearing. In fact, I think I like Mob better than Kageyama, so that's what I'll call you from now on. That work with you?"

"I'm fine with it."

"Cool. Anyway, get your hero costumes on." The two students furrowed their eyebrow up, surprised that Hawks was transitioning so quickly after they'd only just arrived. "Since it's still light out, let's go out on some patrol, though we likely won't be out for long. There're some changing rooms to the right where you can get yourselves ready. Your luggage and school uniform'll be taken up to your rooms once your finished changing, so you don't have to worry about leaving it there. Now hurry up! Daylight's wasting!"

The two students did as the hero asked and walked toward the changing room at a brisk pace. Per his request, Shigeo and Fumikage attempted to change as quickly as possible, not wanting to leave Hawks waiting for very long. Once the two of them finished changing, they stuffed all their clothes into their bags and headed out of the room. The golden-haired hero motioned for his two sidekicks and began to walk out of the building. Shigeo and Fumikage decided to follow their leads, and the group of interns all walked in a large group behind him. "Mob and Tsukuyomi, come up front."

The two students did as the hero asked and walked alongside him. As the trio began to walk through the empty street, the number three hero decided to start up a conversation about something that he'd been wanting to discuss with students from Class 1-A ever since their fight with villains. "So you guys, I was wondering if you could tell me about the attack on the U.S.J."

Shigeo and Fumikage looked at each other before looking back at Hawks. "The U.S.J.?" the avian student said.

"Yea, give me some juicy details, if you could."

"Oh, well..." Tokoyami decided to start, recalling the attack very clearly in his mind. "That day, our class was going to partake in rescue training, but that training was interrupted by the arrival of multiple villains entering through a black portal. Our homeroom teacher, Mr. Aizawa, attempted to fend off the villains while the rest of us fled the building. But the warp villain intercepted us, and his mist body made it so that no attacks could harm him or even touch him. The warp villain then warped all of us to different areas of the U.S.J., with the two of us being warped over to an urban area with heavy rainfall."

"So the two of you also fought together during that incident? That's pretty ironic, now that you're interning together here." As the three of them were having this regular conversation, a woman screamed, for her dog was about to be hit by a truck. The two students heard this scream, but before they could even make a move, Hawks sent out a feather, which carried the dog safely back into the woman's arms. What's more, not a single feature on the hero's face changed: as far as he was concerned, he was still taking a leisurely stroll.

"So then what happened?" Before the avian student could resume speaking, from an apartment building several floors up, a girl who was standing on the balcony while on her phone dropped her device and shouted in fear, but yet again, Hawks was able to swiftly react, using another one of his feathers to grab the phone and put it back into the teenager's hands. The girl instantly recognized the red feather and saw the number three hero patrolling the streets.

"Thanks a ton!" she said.

Hawks gave the teenager a wave before looking back to his two interns, who were visibly startled by his remarkable reaction time. The hero grinned and decided to give them a small nugget of wisdom. "You gotta always keep your eyes peeled and your ears tuned in. Trouble isn't usually gonna be big and flashy and just pop right up in front of you. Anyway, you were saying, Tsukuyomi?"

"Yes," Fumikage said, struggling for a moment to regain his voice, "Well, even though we were surrounded by multiple villains, their large numbers attempted to compensate for their weak quirks, allowing the two of us to easily take care of them. Once those villains were taken care of, Kageyama decided to go help Mr. Aizawa, while I stayed behind to keep the villains detained."

"Oh, what'd you do, Mob?" he said, eagerly clapping his hands together, "Tell me everything!"

Shigeo was about to give Hawks an explanation of what had happened, but suddenly, a large influx of people began to crowd around the number three hero and the two student interns, leaving the other two sidekicks who'd joined them slightly disheartened. These people fawned over the hero of their city, and were equally pleased to see two powerful students from U.A. High walking alongside him.

"It's Hawks walking with Kageyama and Tokoyami, two of the winners of the Sports Festival! So cool!"

"Yo, you two rocked in the sports festival!"

"Can I take a selfie with all three of you?" An eager bystander took out his phone and held it out. The number three hero gave a peace sign, while the two students looked at the camera and merely gave small smiles. "Man, I can't wait to show my friends this!" the teenager said before eagerly running off.

"Wait, lemme get a picture with Kageyama!" another male teenager said, "My girlfriend's gonna love it!" Hawks and Fumikage moved out of the way, allowing the teenager to wrap his arm around the esper while Mob tried to hide a mild blush on his face and took a picture for this teenager.

"Yea baby!" He whooped with exhilaration and ran off in a similarly ecstatic fashion as the previous bystander. The number three hero was rather amused by these overly excited reactions.

"Usually, I don't walk through the streets like this," Hawks said to his two interns, "But I was curious to see how people would react to you two walking along with me through the streets, and the reactions were even better than I thought."

More people began to crowd around them, ready to get more pictures and some autographs from the trio, but before they could, Hawks felt his phone buzzing and saw it was a call from his agency, immediately recognizing that a villain had been reported. "Hawks here. What's the situation?" The crowd quickly went silent, not wanting to distract the hero from this presumably important phone call.

"Got it. Be there soon." Hawks put his phone away and extended his wings, causing the bystanders to take a step back. "A villain's been spotted in the southwest part of the city. Sorry people, gotta head out." The number three hero flapped his red wings, creating a large gust of wind and a sonic boom that blew all the spectators back.

"Go on ahead," said Tokoyami to his friend, knowing he could easily catch up to Hawks with his speed, "I'll be with you shortly."

"No." The avian student's head flinched back in confusion when he saw the esper get behind him and wrap his arms around his chest. "Hold on tight."

Tokoyami let out a small shout of surprise when he felt the two of them speed off into the sky. "Like I said, we're both interning together," said Shigeo, trying to speak through the high noise and wind rushing past them, "And I'm not gonna just leave you behind like that. I'll make sure you get the most out of your time here."

Tokoyami's breath caught in his throat: like others, the avian teenager was not expecting this level of kindness and understanding, though like the others who'd experienced it, he was extremely appreciative of his words and desire to help him, and gave the esper a genuine smile. "I truly appreciate your sentiment, Kageyama! You have my sincere gratitude!"

Fumikage's smile quickly faded, for this was the first time he'd ever flown before, and at such high speeds no less. He could feel the great pressure in his ears, forcing him to cover them with his hands, while he had difficulty keeping his eyes open. He never knew that Shigeo could fly so fast!

After only a few seconds, the two interns got on the tail of the number three hero, who grinned at Shigeo and Fumikage. "There it is! That incredible speed I saw during the obstacle course!" the hero said, "It's nice to have an intern who can actually keep up with me! Means I can actually teach you a few things!"

"Alright, lemme give you a rundown of what we're gonna be dealing with! There's a villain who just robbed a bank in the southwest part of the city! He has a basic but effective size-enhancing quirk that's caused quite a bit of damage, and the police aren't able to harm him with bullets! I'll handle this big guy myself! You two should just stay back and observe!" With both Hawks and Mob flying at speeds faster than sound, the three managed to get to their destination rather quickly, and found the culprit, along with a scene of destruction, with multiple cop cars flipped over and the robbed bank in ruins. Standing several meters tall, adorned with very powerful muscles and a cocky grin on his face, the villain was easily eliminating the feeble police resistance.

"Looks like my training's paid off! I'm bigger and stronger than ever!" the villain said, "Your bullets barely even sting!" The villain approached another squad of police and swatted one of the officers aside. The policeman was nearly sent crashing into a building, but Hawks sent one of his feathers to save him in the nick of time.

"So the number three hero's come to stop me?" the arrogant man said, "Well come at me! If bullets can't hurt me, then what the hell makes you think that you can? You gonna attack me with your puny feathers?"

"Better watch what you wish for!"

The number three hero proceeded to engage with the villain while Shigeo and Fumikage did as they were told, floating back down to the ground as they watched Hawks fight. The large villain attempted to throw a punch at the hero, but Hawks easily dodged the attack and threw a few feathers at the villain. He was shocked that the feathers were able to pierce his skin, and he growled in anger. He attempted to retaliate with another punch, but Hawks was too quick, too nimble for the giant to counter.

What followed was a series of high-speed blows from Hawks while the villain flailed wildly to try and hit the hero. Watching this fight unfold, the police and the two interns were baffled by the way Hawks was outmaneuvering the villain. However, most of them couldn't even properly see the hero's movements, with Shigeo being the only one who could follow Hawks clearly.

"Such incredible speed," Tokoyami said.

Shigeo took note of the way Hawks was using his speed to keep the villain on-edge: it was difficult for him to land a proper blow due to his high-speed movement that put him in multiple different places, all-the-while landing more and more attacks with his feathers on the villain's limbs and slowing his attacks. The way he was zipping around and keeping out of his opponent's field of vision reminded him of the way Hanazawa had moved during their fight. Even now, he wasn't able to move around like that in his normal state for long without feeling nauseous, though in his serious state, this wasn't an issue.

The villain quickly grew frustrated with the repeated feathers being lodged into his skins, and yelled out as he balled his hands into fists. Tokoyami took note of this, and realized he was going to slam the ground in order to blow Hawks away, though Kageyama was a bit slower on the uptake.

"Kageyama, use your telekinesis to stop him!" he said.

The esper did as his friend said and extended his hand while his blue aura surrounded him. That same blue aura was now enveloped all over the villain, who was struggling to figure out what was happening.

"Great!" Hawks said, "Keep him like that for a little longer!" While the large foe was frozen, Hawks took the time to unleash several more feathers, making sure they targeted the limbs. For his final touch, the number three hero spun himself in the air and performed a spin kick that clocked the enemy in the cheek, sending him crashing into the ground and knocking him down for the count.

Upon seeing that he was defeated, the police officers gathered themselves up and surrounded the villain. While they were doing this, Hawks approached his two interns with a pleasant smile.

"Great work, Mob!" the hero said, "You stopped him just before he was gonna unleash a powerful move that could've destroyed most of this block."

"Actually, Tokoyami's the one who told me to do it," the esper replied, wanting to make sure his friend got credit where it was due.

"Is that so?" Hawks looked at his other intern and gave him a thumbs-up. "Then good job too, Tsukuyomi! Shows you've got quick thinking!"

The two sidekicks who accompanied Hawks were just coming to the scene of the crime with sweat running down their faces, though this was something they were used to by know. What they weren't used to was having an intern who was able to keep up with the number three hero's speed, a fact they were impressed by.

"Hey, you two can clean up the mess here and get details from the police," Hawks said to his sidekicks, "Me, Mob, and Tsukuyomi're gonna go to higher ground to get a better view of the city!"

"Ok!"

The number three hero extended his wings and soared into the air, though he did so at a casual speed. Shigeo followed him, using his telekinesis to lift Tokoyami up to follow Hawks into the sky. They eventually rested on the top of a building more than twenty stories high, while his sidekicks went over the details with the police and essentially acted as clean-up service.

"Anyway, let's get back to the U.S.J. attack," Hawks said, "Right now, we've got time."

* * *

While the esper and his friend were getting acquainted at their internships, there were other students of Class 1-A who were not having as good interactions with the heroes they had interned with. One of those students was Bakugo, who had selected Best Jeanist, the number four hero, for his internship. He was standing in front of Beat Jeanist, who was combing his hair, but when the hero addressed him, his tone was not amicable or understanding.

"To be perfectly frank, I don't like you very much?"

"Eh?"

"I know full-well why you chose my agency: because I'm one of the top five heroes."

Bakugo's frustration began to grow quickly. "Hey, you're the one who sent me an offer!"

"Yes. Lately, all my recruits have been perfect little angels, so you certainly stood out. I watched your performance at the sports festival: you have a good handle on your quirk and a decent grasp of its applications as well. You're an outstanding talent, and that talent allowed you to fare very well against such an unbelievably strong opponent as Shigeo. I'd say you're already good enough to take on as a sidekick. However, you possess a fatal flaw: you believe yourself to be the best, and you display that belief without regard on how it reflects on you or your image. You have a ferocious nature."

The hot-headed teenager's blood began to boil. It was bad enough when Kageyama lectured him: now Best Jeanist was doing it? "Don't tell me you brought me here just to give me a lecture!"

Katsuki approached the hero in anger, but he was frozen in-place by multiple strings of fabric woven from Best Jeanist's clothing. "One of my missions to society is to find people like you and change their behavior," the hero said.

The explosive student rolled his eyes. "God, you and the bowl-cut..." Bakugo muttered.

This muttered statement caught the hero's attention. "The bowl-cut? Are you talking about Shigeo Kageyama? You mean he's tried to change your behavior as well?"

Bakugo gave the hero an incredulous stare of shock before looking away, not wanting to answer the question. "I'll take your silence as a yes. How very interesting," Best Jeanist said, putting his hand underneath his chin, "So he too did not take fondly of your aggressive behavior and attempted to correct it. Though it seems as though he didn't have too much success. Hopefully, I will have more luck."

"I actually sent Shigeo an offer," the number four hero said, now beginning to speak more to himself than to Bakugo, "Though his power was truly phenomenal, my main objective was to change his behavior as well. Even though he possesses incredible power, he does not present himself with confidence, and he fumbled when he gave a speech that otherwise had a very good and heartfelt message. And also..."

Best Jeanist put his hand over his hair and let out a soft sigh, "Part of me wanted to do something about that unfashionable hair style of his."

Katsuki's jaw clenched up, and his hands clenched into fists, his fingernails biting into the palms. "Are you serious? Can you please not talk about the bowl-cut right now?"

The number three hero's attention was brought back to Katsuki. "Anyway, you also need to understand that heroes and villains are cut from the same cloth. That means your job here is to watch me: I'll show you what makes someone a hero. I will educate you on becoming an exemplary pro, which includes being aware of the way you speak, your appearance, controlling your emotions, your morals. There are countless things you need to learn, but during the one week you're here, I'll stitch these lessons into your very being."

* * *

At another one of the top five hero's agencies, the fire and ice-wielding teenager was standing at his father's desk at the top floor of the Endeavor Agency. The words from Midoriya, Kageyama, and his mother had all made their mark on him, and it was only because of those words that he was standing here now: to get a first-hand look at what it took to be the number two hero.

"I've been waiting for you, Shoto. I'm pleased to see you accepted my offer."

"I have no intention of following any path you've laid out for me. Only I can decide my future."

"I see..."

Shoto's eyes narrowed in confusion. Right now, his father's expression was mostly blank, the fiery hostility in his eyes having simmered down quite greatly. Not only that, but his tone of voice was also calm and quiet. Usually, his father would have a much more cocky, boastful attitude in this sort of situation, viewing his declaration of following his own path as merely another childish outburst. But right now, it seemed as though his father was in some sort of deep thought or inner conflict of some kind. Now that he thought about it, he'd been acting slightly different ever since the sports festival. And after he won his fight with Kageyama, he didn't make another bold statement like he'd done after the fight with Midoriya, especially considering how powerful Kageyama was and how he possessed similar strength to All Might. Why was that?

Shoto had no knowledge of the conversation that Shigeo had with Endeavor before their match. He had no way of knowing that the esper's words had managed to strike a rather deep nerve in the number two hero that he hadn't been able to shake. To be so bluntly told all of the ways he hadn't been a good father, to be reprimanded in such an open way, it was both surprising and hard-hitting for Endeavor. The number two hero had tried to ignore the esper's words, view them as inane dribble and remember of the ultimate goal of taking the number one spot. He'd tried to justify the arduous training he made Shoto undergo as not only for Endeavor's benefit, but for Shoto's as well, for it would be him taking the pride and glory of being the number one hero. But even this argument hadn't managed to completely dispel the uncertainty and other emotions that had slowly begun to creep up on him. Still, his son had come to his agency, and the number two hero was determined to teach Shoto everything he could, to give him the knowledge and experience needed to become the number one hero.

"You should go get ready. We're going out."

"Where to?"

The number two hero forced the emotions of uncertainty down, and gave his son one of the cocky smiles Shoto was familiar with. "It's time I show you what it means to be a hero."

* * *

The day passed rather quickly for Shigeo and Fumikage. Shigeo gave the details of his fight with the Nomu, the extent of the artificial creation's capabilities, as well as the way he was able to hold his own against the monster until All Might arrived. He skipped over the part about him giving all of his energy to All Might and went to All Might's crushing victory against the Nomu with only five hits. Fumikage also chimed in to give details about Shigeo's fight with the Nomu, such as the tremors their collisions created, as well as the tremors All Might created with his punches. Then, they finished the story with the arrival of the other pro heroes to save the rest of the students.

During the story, Hawks would occasionally interject to ask for more details, such as the power of the other leaders such as Tomura and Kurogiri, whether or not Shigeo had been injured during his fight with the Nomu, as well as what happened to the other villains who participated in this attack.

There were only a few isolated cases that the number three hero and his two interns had to take care of, consisting of a basic convenience store theft, a person almost falling off a high building ledge, and a small house fire, all of which required very little effort and which Hawks took care of with ease. Once the sun had almost set, they'd decided to return to his agency, where his sidekicks began to compile all the data of the incidents that had occurred during the day so they could fill out the proper paperwork for the police. Once this was done, Hawks decided to take the two out to to a nearby restaurant as a treat. But it was obvious to anyone who was with them that the majority of his attention and admiration was focused on the esper.

The three of them were in a private room thanks to Hawks' prestige as the number three hero, not only giving the three of them the chance to talk in private and enjoy quality food, but to get a very good view of the city from a high point.

"You enjoyin' the food?" Hawks said to the two interns.

"Yes, very appetizing," replied Tokoyami, while Mob only nodded his head in agreement.

"Good." The hero took some kababs on the table and began to gobble them up. "You alright if I take these? Sorry, but I've got no self control." The two interns let Hawks do as he please, not wanting to impose on him in anyway.

"Mob, you did an awesome job today," Hawks said while still chewing his food, "Your speed was just as incredible as it was in the sports festival. Though something I noticed was that in the one-on-one battles, you never really used your speed that much. You kinda just stood-in-place for most of your fights. If you'd zipped around the ring, continually moved around the way I did against that giant villain, there's no way any of them would've been able to keep up or properly react, and you would've ended some of your fights even quicker."

"The thing is, I'm still not that used to moving around like that in my normal state for very long without getting nauseous."

Hawks was curious by the wording Kageyama had used, and he leaned his body slightly forward. "What d'ya mean by "normal state"? What's a not normal state?"

"Usually, I'm in a regular state like I am now, but whenever I feel a strong emotion, I experience a dramatic boost in strength, an explosion of power. What emotion I feel can change the level of power I get, but when I'm in a serious state, I'm much more powerful and focused, and I'm able to move at high speeds without trouble."

"So your quirk is based on your emotions," the hero said while stroking an imaginary beard, very intrigued by how the young teenager's powers worked, "Did you experience one of these "explosions" during the sports festival?"

"Near the end of my fight with Bakugo, right about when he unleashed his Howitzer Impact."

"And what was the emotion that set you off?"

Shigeo paused for a moment before giving the two his answer. "...Disappointment." Both Hawks and Tokoyami cocked their eyebrows up and looked at each other in confusion.

"I was just feeling disappointed in the way that Bakugo had tried to belittle Midoriya, the ways he continued insulting or ignoring our classmates, and I expressed that disappointment to him after he used his finishing move on me, how little I thought he'd changed."

Hawks could see that the question he asked had brought up some tension, noting the esper's changing facial features, and quickly decided to rein the conversation in a different direction. "Anyway, the reason you feel nauseous after moving at such high speeds in your regular state is because your body feels out of balance. Your inner ears contain receptors which measure your balance, so moving at high-speeds in such erratic motions can affect those receptors, which is what causes you to feel that sense of nausea. I had to learn this stuff in order to adjust my body to those high speeds too. All you need to do is train your body to move at those high speeds in your normal state, and once you do that, you'll be able to expand your range of motion and'll be able to give your enemies an even tougher time. If you're able to move at high speeds at full power, I'm sure that it's not gonna be that big a trouble to adjust to such speeds in your normal state. You'll probably need just a bit of training, and you'll be good to go."

The number three hero gave a sly smile and pinched his index finger and thumb together. "You've got limitless potential as a hero, Mob. "

Watching Hawks express his utmost respect and belief in Shigeo's abilities, Tokoyami sat in silence, finding it difficult to mask his sense of inferiority and frustration. As he'd anticipated, Hawks was devoting all his praise and focus onto Shigeo, giving him important pieces of advice and notes on how to improve his power. Meanwhile, Hawks had only given Fumikage limited attention, almost to the point that he was barely acknowledging his existence. A part of him knew that this was understandable, that Kageyama was indeed an unbelievably powerful student who deserved all the praise and recognition he was receiving, but that still couldn't take away his frustration and insecurity.

"I need to use the restroom," said Tokoyami, getting up and quickly going to the lavatory. The esper observed his friend's quick exit, the quick tone of voice, and began to piece Fumikage's emotional state based on what he'd said to him earlier before. Once the avian student had exited the room, Shigeo decided to bring this issue up with the hero.

"Hawks, can I ask you something?" Shigeo said.

"Shoot," the hero replied, creating a finger gun with his hand.

"Could you please try to give some more advice and guidance to Tokoyami?" The hero's jovial expression died down, and his lips pursed into a straight line. "I do appreciate the advice you're giving me, and I really am enjoying the time I've spent here so far, but still, it doesn't feel right that Tokoyami's just pushed aside. He wants to be a hero too, but more than that, he wants to improve himself, become stronger. I'm definitely sure that's the reason he joined the new club I formed, the Body Improvement Club, to hone his body. So..."

The esper moved his body slightly forward, his expression becoming more focused, "Try and give Tokoyami a chance to prove what he can do."

Keigo was stiff as a board, not expecting the esper to bring this up in such a bold manner. Neither of them were aware that Fumikage had been eavesdropping on this entire conversation, and the student's heart was yet again being touched by his friend's kindness. Kageyama was truly doing everything he could to ensure that Fumikage learned something valuable from this experience.

"Man." The number three hero sighed, his body beginning to slouch in slight shame while he ran his hand through his hair. He hadn't really thought too much about what he'd be teaching either interns, nor did he consider it too big a deal, but with the passion Shigeo was speaking of his friend, the way he was trying to lend Tokoyami his aid, it couldn't help but leave a slightly sour taste in his mouth. "Wait to make me feel like a total chump."

Seeing this reaction from Hawks, the esper's lips drooped down, and he began to feel a cold sweat building up on his face. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to offend you in any way," Mob said.

The hero let out a short and hearty laugh, amused by the esper's reaction. "Chill, Mob! No need to get worked up about it. You've got a valid point: Tokoyami's definitely got some good stuff going for him, and I didn't choose him for nothing. Alright: I'll try to give him some pointers."

The esper's face broke out with a smile, while Tokoyami's smile also grew wider. He really did have an amazing friend. After hearing this, the avian student decided that he'd intruded enough on their conversation and headed to the bathroom just as he said he would.

"I've gotta say, Mob, you're a pretty great guy, and an even greater friend." Keigo leaned forward once again, resting his elbow on the floor while he cupped his chin into his hand. "You know why I sent you an offer?"

Shigeo didn't have to think too long to answer this question. "Because of my performance in the sports festival?"

Hawks let out another short chuckle. "Yep, a pretty straight-forward answer. I, like probably every other hero agency in Japan, liked the stuff you showed. I thought that it was sweet how we were both fliers with incredible speed, and your speed would let you actually keep up with me. But that's only forty percent of the reason I picked you."

This drew the esper's attention. So Hawks had wanted him to work at his agency for a reason other than his powerful psychic abilities? What could that reason be?

"About forty five percent was just so I could chat with a student from Class 1-A about the U.S.J. incident," Hawks continued. This left Shigeo nominally bummed out, for he'd hoped that there was something more meaningful that could have drawn the number three hero's attention about him. Hawks noted this and pointed his other hand at the esper.

"The final fifteen percent, was cuz I wanted to get a good read on your personality." This statement brought some burgeoning curiosity into the esper's eyes.

"You're a pretty unexpected guy, in my opinion. Even though you've got your crazy strong quirk that already puts you close to All Might's realm, you don't seem to strut around like you're full of hot shit. In fact, when you went up to give your speech, you froze up like a block of ice." Shigeo's cheeks began to flush lightly with embarrassment. "But still, you managed to unfreeze yourself and gave a really cool and honest speech.

"I could tell you wanted to win, but you didn't want to crush the other students. If that really was your intention, you could've used your telekinesis to grab the headbands of every other opponent in the cavalry battle just to prove how they couldn't measure up to your power, to hog all the points for yourself. Anyone could tell that you're a nice guy, the way you showed it during your other fights in the third event, but still, you did some unexpected things. The fight with that Bakugo kid, for example. Even though you won, it was pretty obvious that you weren't happy with the win, and I couldn't quite figure out why, until you told me earlier. And then if that wasn't enough, during the final round, you actually let yourself be thrown out of the ring and gave the win to Todoroki. I was definitely not expecting that.

"But I think the thing that's got me the most curious, the thing I can't wrap my head around, is the way you express yourself. During most of the sports festival, I saw you with the same face, like you were just... bored."

"No, I wasn't bored with any of it," the esper said.

"Yea, I didn't think that either," replied Hawks, "You don't seem to be the kind of guy who would just take something like the sports festival so lightly, even with your crazy strong quirk. So I just wanted to figure out what your deal was, what kinda person you really are. Call it a personal interest of mine."

The esper was not expecting Hawks to take an interest in what kind of person he was, to view him as more than just someone with a strong quirk like most other people in this world had done. That was perhaps one of the things Shigeo liked the most: to be valued for something other than his psychic powers.

_51%_

Before they could continue this conversation any further, Tokoyami re-entered the room and sat back down. Once his other intern had arrived, the number three hero tried to wrap things up at the restaurant. "Tokoyami, Mob, if you're all done here, I'll pay the bill and we can get outta here. There's somethin' I wanna show you."

The hero did as he said and paid the bill before exiting the restaurant. Once the three of them were on the street, Keigo flew up into the sky, prompting Shigeo to fly up along with him while lifting Fumikage up with his telekinesis. They only flew for a few seconds before they stopped and stood at the top of another building that was several stories high. The two interns waited patiently for Hawks to speak.

"Tokoyami, why do you think I asked you to come to my agency?" said Hawks.

"I had begun to ask myself that question," replied Tokoyami.

"Well, about twenty percent," the hero continued, plucking a small feather from his wings, "Was because we're both birds of a feather." The avian student was evidently displeased with this answer, his face beginning to tighten with irritation.

"Half of me just wanted to chat with the students from Class 1-A about the punks who attacked U.A." This only served to irritate Tokoyami even more, and he bit the inside of his cheek while his face began to tighten up. So Tokoyami was only a source of information for Hawks, a way to pick up details and stay informed?

"But the final thirty percent," In an unexpected move, the golden-haired hero wrapped his arms around the student's chest and proceeded to fly off high into the sky, while the esper flew right beside them.

"I saw you in action and I thought, "What a waste!"" Hawks said, "Being up in the sky is a great thing! You get a birds-eye view of the world! From one bird-bud to another, those who can fly should! So why keep yourself grounded?" The number three hero looked over at the esper and noticed that his dull facial features had begun to loosen up.

"Mob knows what I'm talking about," the hero said. The esper was silent: he'd never really taken the time to observe everything from above while flying. He'd usually been too focused on the battle to take note of it, but flying so high felt pretty... exciting. Being able to see so many things from such a high view, soaring unobstructed through the sky. As he gently flew through the sky alongside Hawks, without realizing it, he broke out into a smile, and his dull eyes were beginning to brighten up again.

_54%_

Hawks noticed this smile, the excitement that was beginning to bubble up inside of the esper. "It's a great feeling, isn't it, Mob? We're the only ones in the world who can feel it, this freedom."

The esper's smile instantly disappeared, and he felt his entire body freeze for a moment. That phrase... it sounded so familiar. He remembered exactly what Suzuki had told him during their fight, when he became lost in the pleasure of battle.

_"How does it feel to be released from your shackles? We are freer than anyone else in the world!"_

The memory of that moment rushed back to him like it had during the sports festival. In fact, that fear and insecurity was still very fresh for the esper. So fresh, that he instantly began to feel frightened by the pleasure he was feeling during this flight, seeing it as possibly another chance for him to lose himself. The final match of the sports festival had made him excessively paranoid, and because of this, the esper instantly gasped out in fear and rushed to the top of the nearest building he could find.

"Whoa!" The number three hero instantly rushed over to the young esper, who was gasping heavily, experiencing some form of a panic attack. What could have caused such a dramatic reaction from Shigeo? Tokoyami was equally shocked by the esper's sudden panic attack and crouched next to Shigeo.

"Are you ok, Mob?" Hawks said, "What's wrong?"

"Sorry." The bowl-haired teenager tried to calm himself down, take deep breaths and slow down his racing heart. "It's just what you said."

Keigo cocked his eyebrow up in confusion. "You mean about being free?"

Shigeo nodded his head and closed his eyes. "It's just that... whenever I'm free, I lose myself, and I..." Mob momentarily trembled before finishing his sentence. "I hurt people."

The avian student was having trouble figuring out what the esper was talking about, and merely stood in silence and confusion. Hawks, on the other hand, was able to decipher and understand what Mob meant based on everything he'd pieced from him and everything he'd learned from Mob earlier that night, and also in-part due to his perceptive nature.

"I'm getting it now," the winged hero said while nodding his head up and down, "The pieces are starting to come together now. You're afraid of your power, afraid of how dangerous it can be to others."

Hawks positioned himself so he sat at the edge of the building with his legs dangling off the side, his hands resting on his lap. "And the freedom you're talking about is the freedom to not hold back, to be able to unleash your quirk to the fullest extent. That's why you surrendered during the final round. You were starting to enjoy yourself out there, with the way you started smiling and going more on the offensive. You were feeling the thrill of battle, and you were about to fully enter that thrill and unleash your true power. But you snapped out of it, afraid of hurting Todoroki with your quirk as well as any other spectators."

The esper somberly nodded his head while he looked down at his lap in shame. "Your powers are also based on your emotions, so to try and spare everyone else around you, you've forced your emotions down. The reason you have that neutral look on your face isn't because you're bored, it's because... you can't feel like others. You've forced yourself not to feel like others."

The avian student was rather shocked by this revelation: to imagine that Shigeo was forcing himself to push his emotions down to restrain his power was rather tragic. Hawks appeared to have the same thoughts as Tokoyami, for he lowered his head in slight sadness. "Man, what a..."

Suddenly, the winged hero lifted his head back up, brimming with a sudden burst of energy. "What a crappy way to live!"

Both Shigeo and Fumikage gasped in surprise at the sudden change of tone and expression from Hawks. "To not be able to experience emotions, to completely desensitize yourself like that, means you can't enjoy the important moments in life. It means you can't share the same laughs and memories that your friends can whenever you have positive moments with each other. You shouldn't be so afraid to feel happy or feel excitement. That just sucks! You've gotta shake yourself out of your funk!"

The number three hero rapidly shook the esper to try and invigorate him and snap him out of his state of fear and self-doubt. There was no way he was going to let Mob keep on going like this, to leave him in such a state of self-doubt, fear, and emotional stagnation. He was going to do something about this right now!

"Now come on." The hero got himself back onto his feet and flapped his wings, his relaxed and laid-back face now dead-serious. "We're gonna be doing some hardcore flying!"

Mob was momentarily startled by the sudden change of expression, the seriousness in his voice, understanding that the hero would not take "no" for an answer, and got himself on his feet. "Tokoyami, I suggest you stay here. Your body's probably not gonna be able to handle the speeds we'll be flying at."

"Understood," replied Tokoyami, having already experienced such high speeds when Mob carried him earlier that day. Besides, he knew that whatever Hawks was going to do, it would be for Kageyama's benefit.

"Don't worry, we won't be that long." The winged hero soared off into the sky, while the esper trailed right behind him. Shigeo noted how much faster Hawks was going than before: there was no kidding around right now.

"Time to get some intense flight time in, so get ready!" Hawks shouted with fervor laced in his voice. He was determined to get Mob to enjoy himself tonight, to have fun while soaring in the air and see just how great it was to be able to fly. Keigo flew very high, high enough that no one on the ground was able to see him. The hero then proceeded to glide across the city while the esper kept in-tow.

"Can you feel it?" the hero said, "The wind on your face, the adrenaline pumping through your body. It's an exhilarating sensation!" Shigeo was understanding what the hero meant: he could feel his heart beginning to thump wildly in his chest, the exhilaration setting in. To go through the sky at such speeds really was a feeling unlike anything he'd felt before.

"Let's go higher!" Hawks shot up into the sky, far up where there was a thick cloud line covering the moon and darkening the city. Once the two of them made it through the misty haze, they made it to the other side of the cloud line, and it was... breathtaking. That was the only word that Shigeo could think to describe it. All around him, there were rolling clouds, as though they were standing on top of some sort of moving snowfield. And if that wasn't enough, the moon's bright light shimmered on these clouds, giving a very lustrous and distinct glow.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" said Hawks, "Now let's have some more fun!" The hero shot himself through the air, and the esper followed right beside him. Hawks proceeded to glide through the thick line of clouds, while Mob did the same. The mist felt ticklish on the psychic's skin.

"Get creative!" Hawks wanted to make this night a bit more unexpected, more unpredictable, and that meant making up some cool moves in the sky. The hero held his arms out and began to rotate his body at high speeds, moving at such velocity that it appeared as though he had become a vortex. "Now you try it!"

The esper grinned and ignited his rainbow aura, replicating the same kind of spinning as the hero. Hawks beamed with pride and surprise when he looked back and saw Mob swirling around. "That's it! You look like a rainbow vortex!"

Shigeo quickly stopped the vortex, but when he did, the hero noticed that the smile had returned to the intern's face, and it widened his own smile. The uncertainty had disappeared, replaced by the rush of flight. "There's that smile! Don't try to fight that feeling! Just go with it!"

_57%_

The two of them proceeded to continue their high speed flight, performing multiple midair maneuvers, moving around with such random yet refined movements. It was as if they were dancing, flying through the night sky like majestic, brilliant phoenixes. And Mob was loving it: he'd never known how great it felt to be able to move like this, to fly around with such speed and such freedom. At that moment, there was nothing else on his mind. No fear of losing control of himself, no thoughts on Tokoyami, All Might, or anyone else: all that mattered was this feeling of flight.

Keigo and Shigeo continued these rapid flight patterns, spinning through the clouds and zigzagging through the sky like the free birds they were, before they'd decided that they'd had enough and stopped midair. When they did, both of their faces were livened with energy.

"So, how was it?" Hawks was expecting an enthusiastic response, though he quickly realized that the esper might have bitten off more than he could chew. His face looked flushed, and he was clutching onto his stomach. Then, the esper put his hand over his mouth, nearly vomiting his dinner.

"Whoa there! Just take deep breathes!" The hero patted the esper on the back while he did his best not to regurgitate. After about twenty or thirty seconds, the esper's senses managed to stabilize.

"You see? Nothing happened. You didn't lose control, you didn't hurt anyone. All we did was some high-speed flight. Did you have a good time?"

The esper's smile returned to him, not feeling the need to hide the excitement and rush he'd felt during their intense soaring. "I did. I never realized flying could be so exciting."

_61%_

Hawks shook his head in agreement before looking out into the valley of rolling clouds, then looking back at his intern. "Never forget moments like this. I get why you're afraid of your powers and losing control, but I still don't think you should be scared of feeling thrilled, to focus on the here and now. I think it's times like this, those small but impactful moments, that gives us the most joy, that gives our lives the most meaning. I'd love to live in a society where heroes had more free time than they knew what to do with, to be able to live life to its fullest and experience more joyful moments like this. You catching my drift, Mob?"

The student's eyes were beginning to glow with fascination, his mouth opening in surprise. Hawks was giving the esper a message that spoke rather deeply to Mob: to just have fun. Hawks was making him see that there were times to simply kick back and enjoy yourself, and it was exactly what Shigeo needed to hear after what had happened at the sports festival.

"Hey, while we're up here, let's have a little bit more fun." The hero unzipped his pants pocket and took out his phone. "I've got a few ideas for some wacky pictures. Here, take my phone."

Shigeo did as the hero said and took the phone while Hawks got into position, lying face-back on the clouds and putting his hands behind his back in a relaxed position. Mob began taking the pictures, but as Hawks was posing for his pictures, his mind thought of something that would make for a cool photo.

"Hey Mob! I got an idea! Use your quirk to form a couch, then I'll relax on it! Can you do that?"

"Mm-hmm," Mob replied. The psychic's rainbow aura formed around him, and he took a small portion of the clouds to make a couch. The winged hero clapped his hands and positioned himself on the cloud couch. "Actually, come sit on the couch with me, and use the timer. Take the same position as me too. That'll make it even cooler."

Mob smiled and put the timer on while keeping the phone in the air using telekinesis. As the timer counted down, he got into position, slouching his body and placing his arms behind the back of his head identical to Keigo. Once they saw the flash go off, Hawks took the phone and looked over the pictures.

"These're awesome!" Hawks said, "A final selfie, and we're good to go!" Keigo got next to Mob and held out the phone, with the shining move and the rolling clouds in the background. The two of them smiled for the camera while Hawks made another peace sign. "Great! Now let's get back! We've been keeping Tokoyami waiting too long."

"Right." The two fliers descended from the sky, and Hawks was able to quickly find Tokoyami thanks to his keen eyes.

For the avian student, when he noticed the two of them returning, the first thing he noticed was that the anxiety and fear etched on Shigeo's face had disappeared. Whatever Hawks had done with him, it seemed to have worked.

"Kageyama, you're looking much more relaxed," said Tokoyami with a smile on his face, "Whatever Hawks did with you up there, it seems to have worked."

"Thanks," replied the esper with a smile of his own.

"We've gotta capture the moment, a memento for the first day of our internship with all three of us in the photo!" Hawks said, taking out his phone. "Mob, use your telekinesis again and I'll set the timer."

Mob did as he did before and lifted the phone in the air while they readied themselves, with Hawks placing both his arms around the shoulders of the two. With a bright flash, the camera snapped the picture, and Hawks eagerly took the phone.

"Awesome!" the hero said, "A great way to end this day!"

Mob couldn't agree more: this internship was turning out to be a much more enlightening, invigorating experience than he'd expected it to be. Hawks had been a much more interesting hero than he'd thought, with a character unlike anyone he'd encountered thus far, and this was something that the esper found appealing. Mob was sure that whatever more Hawks and this internship would have to offer, it would be very important, and he would take whatever advice the hero had with an open mind.

* * *

**The first day of internships ends with a good heart-to-heart between Hawks and Mob! The reason why I had Mob's nausea for going at high speeds was because of what Mob said during his fight with Hanazawa, that moving at such rapid speeds made him nauseous. We also never really saw him moving like that in his regular state, showing he still didn't adjust to move like Hanazawa, but we did see him move that fast for his 100% states. Regardless, this weakness isn't going to be a big deal, and it'll be resolved rather quickly. Until Chapter 24, where we'll see how things unfold with Stain!**


	24. An Esper's Desperation

**Chapter 24 is here! Now you'll finally see how things start to unfold with the Hero Killer, Stain, what role Mob is going to have in this outcome!**

* * *

The next two days of internships for Mob were no picnic. After seeing the way the esper had gotten nauseous and the limited ways he was able to use his speed, Hawks decided to devote the next few days to increasing Mob's natural tolerance to high-speed flight, and that involved patrolling the city at high speeds.

At first, Mob wasn't sure about this: he knew he'd be the only one that would be undertaking this training, and that at the speed they'd be flying, Tokoyami wouldn't be able to keep up with it, that even carrying him would cause some serious problems for his friend and potentially make him black out. But to the esper's great surprise, Fumikage was very humble and accepting of this proposition.

"Do not concern yourself, Kageyama. You've already done far enough for me," the avian student had said, "I do not want to have to burden you in anyway. I will simply have to work hard to find my own way to match the phenomenal speed of both you and Hawks."

Shigeo was still riddled with uncertainty, but Fumikage's stern stance managed to sway him and make him undergo the training Hawks had for him by himself. Even for someone as strong as Mob, this was proving to be somewhat of a challenge. He was essentially remaining in constant motion, soaring high in the sky above the streets and buildings. His shabby reflexes would also occasionally force him to make an abrupt stop to prevent himself from colliding with a building.

Nevertheless, the training was actually proving to quite beneficial for Shigeo: after only two days of this intense flight training, the esper was making significant strides. The nausea he'd felt before was much less pronounced, for his body was able to adjust to the intense speed rather quickly. Mob was nominally surprised at how fast his body was able to adjust, though he thought very little of it in the long-run.

Even though the training was no picnic, he was still enjoying himself, enjoying being in the company of Hawks, as well as Tokoyami. Just as Hawks had been surprised by Mob's character, Mob was also surprised by Hawks and his personality. He was expecting the number three hero to have a far more hardened, serious approach to hero work, something akin to All Might, but he acted with an easy-going, relaxed demeanor. The hero was honest, someone who the esper could confide in, just as he'd done before, and the time spent in the sky was also an unexpected joy.

In fact, they had actually gone in the sky a few more times, though those times weren't so much for Mob to feel the rush of flight, but to get a few more wacky pictures. They'd also brought Tokoyami along for those moments, where they replicated the same cloud couch and had all three of them sit together with the same position. In fact, Hawks even took it a step further and had Mob create a television-shaped cloud, along with a remote controller cloud, so it looked as though they were watching T.V. in the sky and Hawks was flipping through channels. Keigo also had Shigeo and Fumikage pose in different ways, with some looking as though they were sitting on the clouds or even swimming through the clouds.

Shigeo sent these pictures to Midoriya and Yaoyorozu: the green-haired teenager responded with multiple emojis with tears of laughter while expressing how unbelievably cool the poses were, and Yaoyorozu was similarly amused by the wacky photos he was in. He'd asked both of them how their internships were going, but the responses he got were both startling in their own ways.

For Midoriya, the fanboy had informed him that he was interning under a pro named Gran Torino, who was All Might's homeroom teacher when he was at U.A. High and who knew about One For All too. He also informed Mob that he'd found a way to harness One For All without breaking his body, channeling only five percent of it throughout his entire body, which the esper had found very positive and ground-breaking. He expressed to Izuku how happy he was that he'd gained a better control over his quirk, and that he wouldn't be breaking his bones every time he used One For All.

For Yaoyorozu, however, it appeared her internship with the hero Uwabami was not nearly as exciting or fulfilling an experience: according to her, most of her time was spent following Uwabami, watching her do photoshoots, magazine covers, things that didn't really have anything to do with being a hero. She'd tried to assure Mob that the time there was a valuable learning experience, though Shigeo felt otherwise.

It was the third day of the internships, and the sun had already set: with most of the day's events having gone by, Hawks and his two interns were sitting and relaxing on the edge of a smaller, ten-story building, located near the heart of the city, where there was a large jumbo screen, tuned into a news channel. However, Keigo and Shigeo were basically limping, the racing they'd done throughout the city taking its toll.

"Man, these past two days've been exhausting," the hero said, "Training you to adjust your body to high speed is making me pedal to the metal. But I can't believe how quickly you're adjusting! After only two days, you've made crazy progress."

The esper gave no response, for he was still panting from all the hard work he'd done today. He'd pushed his body and his psychic powers rather far these past two days, maintaining this constant high speed, and even his high stamina had finally worn out. Right now, what he needed was a good night's rest.

"And Tokoyami, have you considered what I said two days ago?" the hero said.

The avian student nodded his head and rubbed his chin with uncertainty. "I have attempted to incorporate your wisdom, to try and find a way to use Dark Shadow to lift myself into the air as you suggested, though so far, I have not come up with anything."

"Keep thinking. Remember, it's all well and good to cover your weaknesses, but don't forget to remember to improve your real talents."

"Understood."

"Since we got time, why don't we see what the media's droning on about right now." Hawks pointed to the large jumbo screen, and the three of them kicked back and listened in. The channel being broadcast was a news channel, with Daikaku Miyagi acting as the news reporter, and the topic that he was reporting was none other than Ingenium's attacker.

"Despite diligent efforts by the police and many heroes, there has still been no progress made in the capture and detainment of the Hero Killer, Stain. His remarkable abilities and unusual power have allowed him to attack several pro heroes, his most recent victim being the hero, Ingenium. Many citizens have begun to cower before the threat that this man presents, and fear how many more of their city's heroes are slain before this man is finally brought to justice."

"Hero Killer..." Since he'd paid so little attention to anything other than his work the past few days, this new information about the one who'd attacked Iida's older brother was quite a shock. So this man was a serial killer who targeted heroes and murdered them?

"Yep, the Hero Killer, Stain," Hawks said, able to read the esper's face, "He's a pretty bad dude who's killed seventeen pro heroes and injured twenty three of them so badly that they had to retire. I've been paying attention to him and his habits: whenever he targets a pro, it's in a secluded place where there're barely any people, and for some reason, it looks like he's stuck to killing four pros in a city before he moves on to the next. His most recent target, Ingenium, was the first victim to appear in Hosu City. In fact, if I had to take a guess, the Hero Killer's probably gonna strike there again."

Shigeo instantly lost his breath. His eyes bulged open like saucers, and his mouth gaped open. Pieces that he didn't even know were there, that he hadn't even bothered to look at, were coming together. The blissful ignorance that the esper had been living in the past week regarding Iida was gone: the new facts that were presented allowed him to see the full truth about his friend. He understood that the regular, happy-go-lucky act that his friend had put on before was simply a facade, a false face to ease the concerns of Midoriya and Kageyama and to hide the bubbling pain and rage hidden underneath.

"Oh my god," muttered Kageyama, putting his hand over his eye with the utmost shame, "How? HOW could I be so UNBELIEVABLY stupid?"

_74%_

"Huh?" Hawks said.

"Ingenium is the older brother of Iida, one of my classmates, and Iida's interning in Hosu City!" the esper said with a rising voice while getting up from his seated position, "He's smart enough to have figured out the Hero Killer's pattern on his own! He's interning in Hosu City because he wants to go after the Hero Killer! He wants to find Stain and get revenge on him!"

"Revenge?" said Tokoyami, shocked by the esper's assumption, "Do you really believe Iida would do such a thing!"

"It has to be!"

At first, Hawks was rendered silent, surprised by the statement Shigeo had made and by his sudden change of attitude. But then he collected himself and analyzed what he'd just heard from Mob. Listening to his intern's reasoning, the number three hero understood why Mob would come to this conclusion, though wasn't quite ready to wholeheartedly agree, wanting to dissect the situation before making concrete assessments. "That's a possibility, but there might also just be the possibility that it's just a coincidence."

"No! Iida went there to find Stain! What other reason could he have to go there? Is there some sort of high-ranking pro stationed at Hosu City?"

The number three hero pulled out his phone and did a search for all the pros who had agencies in Hosu City. When he did, the curves of his lips moved downward, and Hawks became ready to give more credence to Kageyama's assumption. "Except for Ingenium, the highest-ranking hero that's in Hosu City is Manual, the Normal Hero, whose quirk lets him control water. But he's not even in the top 100: based on his placement in the Sports Festival, Iida would've probably gotten a lot better offers than that."

"That proves it!"

"Even if you're right, Manual's probably not gonna let Iida go on his own to find Stain. I'd go further and say that Manual's already come to the same conclusion that you have and figured out that Iida's gonna go after Stain, that he got better internship opportunities. Manual also probably knows that he's not strong enough to take on someone as strong as the Hero Killer, and there's no way he's gonna risk fighting Stain alongside an intern."

"Iida's not going to be satisfied with that! The anger and hatred that must be fueling his heart will be too strong for him to be swayed so easily through just a warning!" Shigeo understood the power of hatred, as well as the anger that came from watching a sibling get hurt, the kind of fury that it invoked. If that fury was left unchecked, it would only grow inside Iida's heart, especially if Ingenium had been so badly injured the way that the other twenty three heroes, if he'd been damaged beyond repair. Mob had to do something about this, right now, before Iida did anything rash!

_77%_

"I'm gonna call Iida!" He waited for him to pick up, impatiently tapping his foot and fidgeting with his free fingers. To his frustration and worry, the phone went to voicemail.

"Come on!" said Shigeo, deciding to try again. However, this time, the phone went to voice mail much more quickly, indicating that Tenya had seen Kageyama calling him and chose to decline the call.

"No!"

"Maybe he's busy doing some work with Manual," the hero suggested.

"If he was, then he'd at least send a message giving me a reason why he wasn't answering the phone! This isn't like him!

"I have to go see him in-person! We have to leave right now!"

_84%_

"What?" The number three hero was shocked by the many steps the esper was taking at this moment. "You want to go right now to Hosu City to try and talk to your friend?"

"I need to try and help him, stop him from going off to find the Hero Killer himself, because I'm positive that's what he's going to do!"

"Listen, I get that you wanna help your friend, but Hosu City's over a thousand kilometers away. Even at my top speed, and I can fly faster than sound, it'd probably take me a little less than ten minutes. Besides, both of us have been flying all day. Our bodies and our quirks are exhausted: we can't make that kind of trip."

"We have to! I can't just let this be, just leave Iida to drown in his anger like this! I have to make it up to him, for ignoring his pain for the past week, and be there for him now!" The esper took a step toward, and both Hawks and Fumikage were put off by the esper's body movements, the distress in his voice and in his eyes. "Hawks, I'm begging you! Let me help my friend!"

_89%_

The number three hero could tell that this was not something that Mob was going to let go, that he understood his friend was going to do something extremely drastic if something wasn't done to stop him. Keigo could see a fire, a driving sense of urgency and desperation in the esper's eyes that he hadn't seen in him before. He was sure that if something did happen to Iida, if he did go after the hero killer alone and get himself killed in the process, Mob might never forgive himself for standing by, knowing he could have done something to stop it. He couldn't let Mob live with that kind of guilt.

Keigo sighed and lowered his visors. "Fine, you win. We'll go to Hosu City to help your friend. While we're there, I might as well search for the Hero Killer too, not only to stop his killing spree, but to also stop your friend from finding him before another pro does."

The bowl-haired teenager let out a huge breath of relief and slightly bowed his head toward the hero. "Thank you, Hawks. Let's go right now."

"I'd like to accompany you as well." Having remained silent and shocked during most of this conversation, the avian intern decided to interject and voice his thoughts as well on this situation with Iida. "If Iida really is out for the Hero Killer's blood as you say he is, then he's in grave danger. And I cannot remain here while his life is at stake."

Tokoyami looked at the esper with a softer expression, something that Mob had never seen in his friend before. "Kageyama, you have taught me the value of supporting one another, to be there for others when they fall to help pick them up. Though I may not be as close to Iida as you are, he is still my classmate. He's in trouble and in pain. And that means that I must take action as well, to be there to help him in whatever way I can."

A gleam of pride and admiration appeared in Shigeo's eyes: even though Fumikage may appear to have a stoic, reserved demeanor to everyone who knew him, the avian student still cared deeply about he people around him and was willing to do what he could to lend them his aid. Hawks was also liking the way Tokoyami wanted to stick out for his friends, though he still felt that bringing Fumikage along would be rather difficult.

"Tokoyami, I'm still not sure you'll be able to handle the speeds the two of us will be flying," the hero said, "There's the possibility you might pass out."

"That is a risk I must take," the student replied, puffing his chest up and looking at the hero with a newfound fire of determination in his eyes. Hawks could see that there was little he could do to change his mind, so he relented and took two objects out of the inner pockets of his jacket.

"Then take these. These're protective headphones that'll mostly keep your ears safe, and this is a visor that'll protect your eyes. I always keep an extra set of these in case mine break. But even with these, I can't guarantee that you'll be fully protected from the speed we'll be flying."

"I will bear it," replied Tokoyami.

"Ok. But before we go, let's get some things straight: I don't want you two to go after the Hero Killer. I'm only agreeing to this because of how concerned you both are for your friend. You two are going there only to help Iida, to try and talk to him and ease his mind. Meanwhile, I'll be searching for Stain alone. Even though both of you are strong, I'd still rather not have you confront the Hero Killer, especially since his quirk is still mostly unknown. Any slip-up could potentially cost you your life against such a strong villain like him. This way, not only will the Hero Killer be apprehended, but I can make sure that neither you two or your friend put yourselves in danger. Does that sound like a plan?"

Both interns firmly shook their heads in agreement. "Good. Kageyama, you hold onto Tokoyami. Tokoyami, put your headphones and visors on."

The winged hero took out his phone and pulled out the maps app. "If we're going to Hosu City, we need to have a good idea in what direction we're going. In fact, we have to be pretty damn accurate: even a few degrees off could land us off by miles. Now let's see here..." Hawks used the maps to estimate the longitude and latitude of Fukuoka and Hosu City. Using that information, he then used a compass to calculate the area they would be flying towards. Using his finger as another reference, the number three hero pointed the approximate angle of where they would be traveling.

"Ok, we're gonna be flying in that direction, a straight shot towards Hosu City! Now let's get a move on!" The three of them proceeded to shoot through the sky, beginning their journey to Hosu City. But as they begun their flight, Hawks took out his phone again. Before they left, he had to inform his agency of what the three of them were doing so they wouldn't start a panic.

"Hey listen, Kathy! I know this is kind of a last-minute notice, but I'm gonna be going to Hosu City with the two interns to find the Hero Killer! I'll call you tomorrow to let you know how things went! Let the sidekicks know!"

The number three hero hung up the phone, but as he was flying and had the phone in his hand, he thought of something else. "You know what? I'll call Manual's agency to see whether he and Iida are at the agency or if they're out patrolling, to make it easier to find them once we get there!" shouted Hawks.

The three of them slowed down a bit to allow the number three hero to look up the phone number for Manual's agency and dial it. After a few seconds of ringing, one of the staff members of Manual's agency picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, this is Hawks!"

The staff member stuttered, unsure of whether he just heard was real or not. "H-Hawks? The number three hero?"

"Yea! Would it be possible for you to get Manual, if he's at the office? I'd like to talk to him!"

"Right now, he's out on patrol with a new intern, but I'll let him know you-" The staff member's voice petered out, and Hawks could here some rising voices in the background. It sounded as though something big was starting to happen.

"What? A disaster just sprouted up? They were what?" the staff member said to his fellow workers with a voice growing panicked, "Sorry, but we've just gotten some calls from civilians! Apparently, there're some sort of... things causing a huge disaster in Hosu City! The callers said they looked like hulking monsters with exposed brains!"

"Wait, what? Hulking monsters with exposed brains are attacking the city?" the number three hero exclaimed with shock.

The esper heard this and felt his face begin to turn white as a blanket. The description of those creatures sounded awfully familiar. "Those sound like... Nomu!"

_93%_

Why would Nomu show up in Hosu City? The esper vividly recalled his experience with the Nomu, the beast-like creature who acted like an overpowering attack dog. There were actually more of these things? The League of Villains had actually made more of those monstrosities? And why would they show up in Hosu City? Then a terrifying thought crossed the esper's mind: what if the League of Villains and the Hero Killer were connected somehow? What if they were working together? That only meant that Iida's life was in even greater danger!

_97%_

"Hawks, you take Tokoyami!" The esper used his telekinesis to move his friend as gently as possible through the air and towards Hawks. The number three hero got the cue and tightly held the avian student. "I'm going on ahead!"

The golden-haired hero did not approve of the esper's suggestion. "No, Mob, you can't-"

But it was too late: with a large sonic boom, Shigeo shot through the air like a superpowered missile, the force of the boom leaving both Tokoyami and Keigo stupefied.

"Incredible..." muttered Tokoyami.

"No kidding," replied Hawks, "He's faster than me by a long-shot. Now I know how you and my sidekicks feel." Even though the hero had cracked a joke, he was still feeling deeply worried: this wasn't the plan. Was Kageyama going to do like he said, or was he going to decide to take matters into his own hands and fight the Nomu, or find the Hero Killer before Iida did?

"Please, Mob, don't do anything crazy," muttered Hawks.

Shooting through the sky with his rainbow aura surging around him, the esper was in a race against time. What was going on in Hosu City? If there were Nomu in the city, and they were as powerful as the ones at the U.S.J., then whichever heroes were sent to fight those things would be in grave danger: none of them would last against such powerful beasts! And Iida would get caught in the cross-fire!

_99%_

Kageyama had to get there as soon as possible! He had to get there to save his friend!

_100% Desperation_

With the concern for his friend and the uncertainty of the situation in Hosu City, the student's psychic powers exploded, resulting in a tremendous boost in speed that created another large sonic boom. Shigeo's aura grew even larger, with the esper pouring every drop of energy he had into his flight speed. With this incredible speed that surpassed the speed of sound more than two dozen times over, the esper was able to make absolutely incredible time, traversing the distance between Fukuoka and Hosu City in just about two minutes, equivalent to traveling more than eight to nine kilometers per second. The esper made sure to check his phone once or twice, which he also kept in a zipped pocket, to help guide himself in the proper direction.

However, when the esper was less than one hundred kilometers from the target city, he began to feel some fluctuations in his energy. His aura began to dim and flicker, while he felt himself making abrupt decreases in speed.

"What?" the esper said. He could feel it: his power was beginning to drop. Hawks had warned him of the stamina they'd depleted from their rigorous flying, and he was now able to see what he was talking about. Even though it had only been a few minutes, Shigeo knew he couldn't keep this power up for much longer. "No, no, no! Come on, a little farther! I can make it!"

The esper created another air burst to propel himself through the sky. Shigeo took a momentary breath of relief: the city was now in-view. He could also see the large fire that he'd heard from Hawks, which meant that's where the Nomu were attacking. This was still not the time to relax: he had work to do. He had to make sure that his friends were ok and that the heroes were handling the situation.

In only a few seconds, the esper made it to the site of the fire and took everything in: there were two Nomu wreaking havoc. One of them was black and had a similar physique to the Nomu he'd fought, while the other was a pale-yellow colored Nomu with wings. There were several pro heroes who had gathered at the scene to fight these monsters, and contrary to what he believed, they were faring better than he'd expected. After briefly seeing the way the pro heroes were fighting, he realized that these Nomu were not nearly as powerful as the one Mob had fought. If that was the case, then maybe the pro heroes could handle this by themselves.

Then that meant moving onto the next pressing issue: finding Iida. Mob knew that Manual would've undoubtedly come to this location to fight the Nomu, so he searched through the scene of destruction to find him. Though he didn't know what the hero looked like, he remembered Hawks saying that Manual had a water quirk, so that meant he was looking for the hero manipulating water, where he would hopefully find Iida too. After a second of searching, he spotted a hero with a blue and white costume manipulating the water of a broken fire hydrant. But Iida wasn't with him: he surely must've noticed this destruction, so why wouldn't he be here? Even if he was ordered not to fight, Mob still should've seen him somewhere in this area, either helping people evacuate or assisting with rescue efforts.

Then, the obvious answer came to him, the answer he'd been fearing all along to be true: Iida had gone after the Hero Killer by himself. Even with this sort of danger popping up, Iida had chosen to ignore it and instead search for his brother's attacker. His aura once again surrounded him: he had to find him right away!

Shigeo flew away from the scene of the crime at a much slower speed than before, though the first question that came to mind was where the Hero Killer could possibly be? Then he remembered what Hawks had said about Stain's targets: they were all found in secluded places where there weren't many people. That meant that he would have to look through the back alleys of Hosu City, far away from the panic!

The esper proceeded to hover above the city, scanning every desolate alleyway he could find in the hopes that he would find Iida. It was a race against time, and every second counted, for if his friend had already found the hero killer, a few seconds could mean the difference between life and death for his friend. So he had to find Iida and save him! There was no one else here who was there to save him!

Shigeo quickly found out that this was not the case: after about fifteen seconds of scanning from high in the sky, Mob identified someone wearing a white suit of armor in an alleyway up ahead. It was Iida, lying on the ground, bleeding from his shoulder! But what he didn't expect to see was someone wearing a green costume, standing in between Iida and a man with a red scarf and a weapon in his hand.

"Midoriya! Iida!"

The bowl-haired teenager dropped down from the sky, plopping himself down right next to his friends, who couldn't believe what they were seeing As Kageyama had anticipated, Iida had gone after the Hero Killer by himself with the sole intent of fulfilling his vengeance. After encountering Stain, Iida had been quickly overwhelmed by the villain's remarkable speed. The teenager spewed his hateful words toward the Hero Killer for crippling his brother, the person who Iida most admired in the world, and declared he would kill the villain. Stain, however, brought up something that Iida had completely ignored: the other hero he was trying to kill, Native. So consumed with this desire for revenge, the thought of helping him had not even crossed Iida's mind. For this, Stain declared him to be as far away from being a hero as possible, raising his sword to deliver the finishing blow. But before he could plunge his sword down, he was quickly interrupted by a punch to the face from Midoriya. And now, less than fifteen seconds after this newcomer had come, Kageyama had dropped in from the sky.

"Kageyama? You're... you're here," a baffled Midoriya said.

"I was worried about Iida, so I rushed over here as soon as possible." The two teenagers were still having a difficult time accepting that the esper was here, that he'd come even though Hawks' Agency was more than one thousand kilometers away. The shock was even greater for Iida, though. Kageyama had called him, but with only thoughts of anger and vengeance, Iida did not want to talk with him or really anyone else, so he'd declined his call. That couldn't have been more than five minutes ago: could Kageyama really have come from Fukuoka all the way to Hosu City in that amount of time?

"Thank god you're here, Midoriya," the esper said, "If you hadn't come, I would've been too late to save Iida." Shigeo turned his head toward his spectacled friend and gave him his reassurance and said the same thing that Midoriya had said when he'd arrived.

"Don't worry, Iida. We'll protect you." The esper looked over at their opponent, who was glaring at both Shigeo and Izuku.

"So you're him: the Hero Killer." Shigeo examined the infamous villain, the blades that adorned his body, and those red, intimidating eyes. "You're the one who hurt Iida's brother, the one who's been killing all those pro heroes." As he looked at Stain, he also realized the other pro hero that was sitting on the ground with blood coming out from his left armpit area. He hadn't expected to find another pro here with Iida. Now that he was standing face-to-face with this man, the one who'd been causing so much grief and death, he felt he needed to understand what was driving him to commit such heinous acts. "And now you've come to kill my friend and this other pro hero. Why? Why are you targeting heroes?"

Stain scowled at the bowl-haired teenager, tightening his grip on his blade. "I am on a mission: to reclaim the word "hero", a word that has lost meaning in today's society. In order to do that, I am eliminating those who bear that title without having earned it, who do not act in the ways that a true hero should. Your friend is such a person: he came here to exact vengeance upon me for damaging Ingenium's spine and crippling him, completely ignoring the hero that was in danger. Someone as selfish as that, who only uses their quirk for their own desires has no right to call themselves a hero, which is why I will end his life tonight."

The killer's red eyes began to simmer and broil with intensity, while his voice was laced with malice and hatred, causing both Midoriya and Kageyama to feel shivers running down their spines. But for the esper, shortly after that burst of fear came a sharp gasp. He had assumed that Ingenium had been hurt rather badly, but he couldn't believe that the damage was that terrible. Ingenium couldn't walk anymore? No wonder Iida was fueled with such anger: it reminded Mob of a time when he was also bursting with rage...

"There was a time when I thought my family had been murdered, that their bodies had been burned alive." The esper began to recollect that frightful time, when he found his house being burned to the ground. He'd tried to convince himself as he was walking through the burning house that his family was fine, that they'd gotten out, but when he opened the door, those bodies...

Shigeo began to stare down at his empty hands, the images of those corpses that were burned into his mind popping up once again. "As I stood there and saw their charred corpses, in that moment, I..."

The esper's body began to tremble, for that memory was another moment that had come to haunt him, a moment where the monstrous beast lurking inside of him threatened to come out in all its terrifying, feral and unadulterated fury.

"I was ready to burn the ENTIRE world to ashes."

Hearing this unexpected and horrible recollection from Mob, Izuku and Tenya felt their hearts skip a beat, while the hero killer and the other pro widened their eyes in shock. The words that Shigeo was using, the way his body began to tremble with fear, all of them could see that the anger he was describing must have truly, TRULY terrible, that it was a feeling that haunted him even now. The psychic managed to stop his trembling body and regained his voice, though his eyes were still focused on his empty hands.

"I'm lucky I had a friend there to bring me back to my senses, to stop me before I did anything I would regret." He clenched his empty hands into fists, and looked back up towards the Hero Killer.

"That searing, molten-hot anger, it can be so difficult to overcome, especially when you have to do it by yourself. That's the anger that Iida's been carrying with him all this time, all by himself."

Mob turned his head to look at Iida, his shoulders hunched over with complete shame. "I'm so sorry, Iida." The spectacled teenager drew a faint gasp.

"As soon as I heard your brother was injured, my top priority should've been to see how you were feeling. I should've come with you to Hosu City, to help you through your crisis and your emotions. But I was too preoccupied with other things, so I made stupid excuses to myself that you were doing fine, that you were handling this perfectly well, completely ignoring your pain." The esper tightened his fists, and he brought his eyes back to the ground, too ashamed to even meet Iida in the eye with the ways he had let him down.

"I've failed as a friend. I hope you can forgive me."

Shigeo's words, the way he was expressing his shame and regret in such an open manner, his genuine, wholehearted apology, it managed to land a deep strike Iida's heart. For a brief second, the anger and hatred that had clouded his heart was beginning to clear, and Iida began to feel some tears form in his eyes. He was about to say something, but before he could, Midoriya's loud voice interjected.

"Kageyama, stop!" Even though the green-eyed teenager could feel the heart and emotion laced into his friend's words, and he himself also felt a similar regret for not being able to see that Iida was suffering and not helping him either, he did not understand why Kageyama was saying these things now, when there was a serial killer standing right in front of them. "This is not the time for that! We have to get ready to fight!"

"No." The esper lightly shook his head before turning his head back to look at the Hero Killer. "I came here to help Iida, not to fight Stain. But now that I've found him, now that I know why he's doing this, I have to talk to him."

The mild shock that the four had displayed before was small in comparison to the stupefied faces. For Iida, the cloud of anger covering his heart returned and actually worsened, for what Kageyama just said was absolutely revolting in his eyes. Midoriya and the other pro hero looked at the esper as if he was crazy, and even Stain was visibly startled by what this child had just said.

"Kid, are you insane," Native said.

"What the hell do you mean by "talk" to him?" Iida snarled.

"Kageyama, what're you trying to do here," said Midoriya, "What do you think you can possibly accomplish? You can't talk to villains! It's pointless!"

"That won't work. I have to make him try to understand something extremely important," the esper replied. After hearing Stain's words and getting to view him up-close, he began to notice an eerie similarity between the Hero Killer and someone else he'd met before. Those cold eyes, his intimidating, overwhelming aura, the fiery hatred in his soul, and his determination to kill the people he viewed as evil, he had seen all those things in Keiji Mogami. Though it had been somewhat difficult, Shigeo had still managed to leave his mark the evil spirit, make him understand that people could change. Since he already knew how people like Mogami thought, maybe he could try and instill the same lesson onto Stain. He had to at least try.

"Fascinating..." The villain's body began to slightly loosen, his eyebrows raising up while his curiosity began to grow. "You're something new, unexpected. Normally, I would assume that this is some sort of cheap ploy to distract me or some feeble attempt to try and buy time to think of some sort of plan, but I see no fear or desperation in your eyes. There is only sincerity. You know who I am, and yet you truly wish to speak to me?"

Stain let out a soft chuckle of amusement. "Diplomacy is a rare trait in a hero, and you're the first person I've encountered where it's your first response. Very well: you have my attention. Say whatever is it you wish to say." The villain lowered his blade: letting the child speak would waste some time, and his quirk, Bloodcurdle, relied on time. It worked by ingesting the enemy's blood, paralyzing their bodies, though there was a time limit before the paralysis was removed. Still, Stain felt curious about what this child would say, and so long as he didn't drone on for too much time, the Hero Killer didn't see it as too big a problem.

The esper took a short breath and collected himself. Here it went. "I understand how you think and feel, Stain. You hate this society because you view it as a corrupt place, and you're right. The world can be a cruel, terrible place, full of selfish, inconsiderate people who only care about themselves, who only want to maintain their status or live for their own desires. You think that the best way to fix that society is by killing those people, but that shouldn't be what's done. Instead of killing those people, or in your case, the false heroes you describe, we should focus on effort on trying to change them."

The Hero Killer's interest in the esper's words quickly started to die down, and he scoffed. "Ridiculous. The method you describe is not feasible, a foolish pipe dream: people's true natures cannot be changed."

"That isn't true," Shigeo replied, "People grow because of the interactions they have with each other. We all become better thanks to the people around us, and everyone has something valuable they can teach to others. If you put in the effort, show their flaws or why they might be wrong with how they think, you can inspire them and make them into better people."

Stain shook his head in disagreement. "What absurd dribble. You are a well-intentioned, but naive fool. You will have to waste your life on that endeavor to change others, to change their selfish mindsets, before realizing how futile of an effort it is. I pity you." The villain raised his sword towards the young teenagers, and his malefic aura began to flare up once again. He'd already felt heard enough from this child, and felt there be no need to listen any further. "You have nothing to teach me, and you will not stop me from my mission to cleanse this world of the filth that are false heroes."

"Look Kageyama, just stop talking and focus on fighting," Midoriya said, finding it partly ridiculous that he even had to say this, especially considering how easily the esper could take care of the Hero Killer. In fact, with Mob here, he was confident this fight would be over in moments. "Use your power to restrain Stain while I deliver some heavy blows to knock him unconscious. With your power, we can take down the Hero Killer."

"Ok," the esper said with a tone of disappointment in his voice. It was unfortunate, but it looked like he was going to have to use his psychic powers to bring Stain down. Even if his power had dropped, he was still sure that he'd have at least some energy left to fight right now. But when he raised his hand to activate his power, nothing was coming. He stood there for a few more seconds, grunting and trying to summon his psychic energy, and to no avail.

"Oh no."

"What's wrong," Midoriya said.

"My power's drained." The green-haired teenager gasped: Shigeo was out of power? Unfortunately for the esper, his depleted stamina had already been an issue, and it was only made worse when he entered his full power mode. In fact, Shigeo should've already been hit with a wave of drowsiness, but the intensity of the situation was keeping his brain awake. "I used up all my energy coming to Hosu City. I didn't think I would be so tapped out: it'll take me at least a few minutes for me to get back some of my energy!"

"Damn it!" This was the last thing that Izuku wanted to here. Without Shigeo's power, that made things much more complicated and difficult.

"Listen, Midoriya, Kageyama, don't get involved!" The two teenagers stared back at their friend, whose face was twisted with rage. "This doesn't have anything to do with either of you!"

"Iida, what're you talking about," the esper said, dismayed that Iida would even entertain such an idea, "Of course it does! You're our friend!"

The green-haired fanboy grunted: he should've gotten help from one of the pros fighting with the Nomu. He knew he needed someone else to fight alongside him, and right now, Kageyama couldn't be that person. So he silently took out his phone, and from behind his back, sent a mass text to all his friends giving them his location. For now, Izuku would have to fight the Hero Killer by himself, so he widened his stance and clenched his hands into fists.

"Kageyama, you need to go and get help from the pros while I hold the Hero Killer off," the teenager said.

"And leave you here to fight Stain all by yourself?" Shigeo replied. The bowl-haired teenager knew that his friend had managed to use One For All without damaging his body, but that was still using only 5% of his power, and his opponent was a man who had overpowered more than forty pro heroes. "I'm not going to just abandon you all here! You need my power right now! Besides, Stain's not going to just let me run away! Even if I do manage to get help, what if he overpowers you and kills all three of you while I'm gone? I'm not gonna take that risk! Just try to stall him, give me as much time as you can for me to-" The esper growled with frustration, his entire body beginning to shake as he attempted to summon his psychic power. But the most he could create at the moment was a mild flicker.

The fanboy was unsure about this: on one hand, Shigeo was right in that he needed his incredible psychic powers. On the other hand, Shigeo was still putting himself at risk by staying here. Without his power, he couldn't do anything meaningful here. But like his friend said, the Hero Killer wouldn't just let Kageyama run away. Stain also possessed remarkable speed, being able to outmatch both Ingenium and Iida, who were renowned for their impressive speed, so running away could leave Kageyama wide open for an attack, and without his power, he'd have no way to defend himself from such an attack.

"Alright." The green-haired teenager sighed, "I'll try and buy you as much time as I can, but you need to try to draw out every ounce of power possible."

"Listen to me! Stand down!" Iida said, still vehemently against the idea of them intervening in this fight, "I told you this has nothing to do with you!"

"If you really believe that, then why're you trying to become a hero in the first place?" Izuku admonished his friend for trying to get the two of them to leave, before turning his attention to the villain.

"All Might was right." The teenager got into a fighting position with a shaky smile forming on his face. "Meddling when you don't need to is the essence of being a hero!"

The Hero Killer expressed similar shock at this teenager's words, but smiled with glee, admiring this child's tenacity and bravery, and even Shigeo cracked a smile of pride before focusing his efforts on channelling his psychic power. While he was doing this, he watched his friend fend off against Stain. Iida warned his friend not to get cut, which confused the esper since his friends hadn't informed him of the details of Stain's quirk.

The enemy swung his sword, but Izuku ducked and also managed to evade a follow-up knife attack with nimbleness he'd never seen from his friend before. Then, he leapt into the air, landing a 5% Detroit Smash on Stain's head.

Both Iida and Kageyama were amazed by this new fighting style, noticing the similarities it bore to Bakugo's movements. Mob was feeling confident that his friend could stall for quite a while before the heroes showed up, but sadly, the villain had managed to get a small cut on Izuku's shoulder with his knife. The villain licked the small drop of blood on the blade, and suddenly, the teenager was rendered immobile.

"Midoriya? What's wrong?" the esper said.

"The Hero Killer's quirk lets him control his enemy's body if he swallows someone's blood," the green-eyed teenager said, "But I can't believe one graze was all it took."

"You're not powerful," Stain said, "It's not that you predicted by movements, you just left my field of vision and maneuvered so you'd be able to get a clean shot, but I saw through your plan." The Hero Killer's focus went on the only person who was still standing. Izuku was entering a state of panic: that couldn't have been enough time for Shigeo to regain his energy. Now he was left to fight alone without his psychic powers.

"You're the only one left. You still haven't regained your power, and words won't stop me," the villain said, "So what will you do?" The Hero Killer was waiting heavily on Kageyama's reaction: this would be what determined his character, whether he hid under words to conceal his fear and cowardice, if he would run and abandon his friends without his quirk to fight for him. His decision would determine whether or not Stain would spare his life.

The young esper was at a loss: he'd never experienced a situation like this before. He'd never been in a fight where he didn't have his psychic powers to defend himself. The only time this had occurred was during the raid on Claw's Seventh Division, when Ishiguro was going to destroy the base and both he and Reigen had run out of power, but then, Sho had intervened to finish the Division Leader off. But now there was no one, no one to stand up and fight in his place. For a second, his body froze, paralyzed with uncertainty and fear.

"Kageyama, run away!" the angered teenager said, "Leave now!"

For some reason, Iida's words managed to have the opposite effect that he intended: it allowed him to snap out of his state of fear and understand that he couldn't just run away now. Even if he didn't have his powers to help him, he had to do something! He had to fight for his friends!

The esper rushed toward the Hero Killer, priming his fists for combat, while the villain's face split into a wide smile almost identical to the smile he'd given to Midoriya. Even without his quirk to defend himself, even though his body was frozen with fear, he was still choosing to take action and stand with pride. Stain was very impressed by his resolve, but he was much less impressed by the teenager's attempt to overpower him. His wide smile quickly drooped down into a frown, surprised and very disappointed by Kageyama's fighting style.

The young esper was simply going for broke and wailing on the Hero Killer with sloppy punches that Stain was able to dodge with astounding ease.

"What is this?" the Hero Killer said, "Is this actually how you fight? It's as if I'm looking at the fighting style of an infant!" Stain used his remarkable speed to move around the esper to observe how Shigeo would react, and he was equally astonished by how slow his reaction time was. "And your reflexes are pathetic!"

Given the way that Midoriya had spoken of his friend, it seemed as though he had a great deal of confidence in the power of Kageyama's quirk. "I don't even know what your quirk is, but I can tell you rely on it far too much for combat! You've counted on it to save you from every fight, and so you've seen no need to develop any basic combat abilities, hone your senses, sharpen your reflexes! A foolish mistake that is costing you very dearly right now!"

Shigeo performed an overly predictable jab, which the Hero Killer dodged while delivering a hard elbow to the teenager's gut. Stain then followed up with a right kick, sending the esper crashing into the wall, and jammed his sword into Shigeo's left shoulder, causing the esper to yell out in pain.

"Kageyama!" Midoriya shouted.

"A word of advice: if you want to be a hero, you have to know how to fight," Stain said, "I could end your life with ease if I so desired. However..."

Stain took the sword out of Mob's shoulder and licked the blood, who instantly felt his entire body tense up. "You will not die tonight. Even if you're misguided, you're still unique, the most unique hero I've ever encountered." Stain released Shigeo from his grip, and the esper collapsed to the ground.

"There are countless false heroes who're all talk, but I believe you and your friend are worthy of staying alive. You're different from these two." Stain walked toward the blue-haired student, his sword primed and ready. The two teenagers watched as the Hero Killer approached their friend: Shigeo was practically going crazy trying to get his psychic power out, to immobilize Stain, but while the aura around Shigeo became more pronounced, it still wasn't quite enough. He still needed a little more time!

"Stop it," Midoriya said. The Hero Killer lifted his blade upward, and the pupils of both teenagers began to dilate.

"GET AWAY!" screamed both teenagers. But before the villain could plunge his blade into Iida's skull, a burst of fire came forth, forcing Stain to jump back. The three students looked up and saw Todoroki with his left side engulfed in flames while he had his phone in his right hand.

"Todoroki!"

"Midoriya, you need to give more details in times like this. I was almost too late to stop this guy. Your message took me a while to decipher, since you only sent me your location, but you're not really one to leave cryptic messages without a reason, are you? So I figured you were in trouble and asking for help! Don't worry, the pro heroes will arrive any minute now!"

The dual quirk-wielding teenager observed the scene and gasped when he saw Kageyama among the people on the ground. Not only was his presence in this scene quite a shock, but what was more shocking was that Stain had actually managed to overpower him, someone whose strength was comparable to All Might. "Wait, Kageyama? The Hero Killer got you too?"

"He's out of power, and without it, he wasn't strong enough to take on the Hero Killer alone," Midoriya explained.

Shoto stomped his right foot, covering the ground with ice. Stain jumped up to dodge, but as he did, ice structures formed, which slid Native, Shigeo and Izuku all behind him. Shoto fired another shot of flames which the villain dodged.

"Wait, Todoroki, you can't let him get your blood," the teenager continued explaining, "I'm pretty sure that he controls his enemies actions by swallowing it!"

"So all I need to do is keep my distance!" The dual quirk-wielding teenager and the villain continued their scuffle, with Stain using very crafty maneuvers to draw blood while trying to get in close, but the ice and fire attacks were proving to be much more difficult for the villain to handle in comparison to Midoriya. As he was doing this, Shigeo was still desperately trying to bring forth his psychic powers, while Iida's anger was still boiling over.

"Stop, why're you doing this? His fight is with me! I inherited my brother's name! I'm the one who should stop him! The Hero Killer is mine!"

"You're Ingenium now? Odd: the Ingenium I knew before never had that look on his face."

"He's right!" The esper could see the burning hatred in his friend's eyes and did not like it at all. It wasn't a look that suited him whatsoever. "Iida, I know how angry you are right now, and I know how hard it can be to overcome that anger, but you have to try and fight it! You can't allow it to control you like this, to dominate your heart! It'll turn you into something that you're not, something terrible and twisted! I know you're better than this! We all know that you're better than this!"

Tenya stared his friend in the eyes, and was startled by the passionate, almost pleading look in them. It was as if seeing Iida in this vengeful, hate-filled state was hurting Mob, as if Iida's pain was also his own. The look in his friend's eyes made the spectacled teenager's eyes gloss with water once again.

As Stain and Todoroki continued fighting, the villain threw two knives at the teenager's left arm while preparing to strike the immobile hero with his sword. But before he could, Midoriya jumped up, grabbing Stain and sliding him through the wall. "I'm not sure why, but I'm able to move now!"

"So he has a time limit," remarked Shoto.

"No, he should've been the last one to be freed," Native replied, "I still can't move a muscle."

Stain elbowed Midoriya in the head, releasing the villain from his grip, though Todoroki followed up with another volley of ice while warning Midoriya to dodge. The fanboy backed up next to Todoroki, where he began to dissect Stain's quirk. "So swallowing a person's blood activates his power, but I was the one freed first. I've come up with three different guesses: one could be that it's less effective the more people it's used on, the amount ingested could play into how long you're paralyzed, or there's even the possibility of a person's blood type."

"If it's the last one, then I'm Type B," Native said.

"I'm Type A," added Iida.

"And I'm Type O."

"Then you should be freed any second now, Kageyama," the green-haired teenager said, "Have you mustered up your power?"

"I've almost..." The psychic teenager's entire body tensed up while the psychic energy flowed around him. It was almost there, but...

While the esper continued lying on the ground, both Midoriya and Todoroki were going over their next plan of action, deciding how to go about combating the Hero Killer. With retreating out of the option, Izuku decided to distract Stain while Shoto supported him from behind. As the two of them began their assault, Shigeo felt himself regain control of his body. So the time limit had ended, but he still hadn't summoned up his psychic power! As his two friends continued risking their lives, Shigeo continued to feel his frustration building up inside of him. They needed him right now, and he was just standing therelike a helpless idiot!

"Come on, COME ON!" The esper used all the negative emotions boiling up inside of him to act as a fuel for his powers, and to Shigeo's immense relief, he began to feel the psychic energy flowing through his body, the rainbow aura surrounding him.

_4%_

"Yes! I've got my powers back!" Through the sheer weight of his emotions and pushing his psychic powers past their limits, Shigeo was now able to stand up and fight alongside his friends. It was time for the second round to begin!

* * *

**Now things are starting to heat up again! Despite a rough start for Mob, he's got his psychic powers back! Until Chapter 25, where you get to see how things finish with the Hero Killer!**


	25. Change

**Short update time, am I right? Well, now you're going to see how the conflict with the Hero Killer finishes.**

* * *

Now that the esper was able to join in the fight, he extended his hand forward, but as he did, he felt the sharp pain in his left shoulder. He'd spent so much time focusing on activating his powers that it helped him ignore it, but now it was beginning to come back to him. No, he had to keep on fighting! Pain was no excuse to stand on the sidelines!

As the Hero Killer sliced Midoriya's leg and swallowed the blood, he dodged another volley of fire, but as he did, he began to feel his body tense up. Something was restraining him! He looked forward and saw Kageyama with his arm stretched out and an aura around him.

"So you've regained some of your power," the villain said, "Well-" The Hero Killer focused his strength to overpower the esper's hold on him, and with only moderate effort, was able to break free of Shigeo's psychic power, shocking everyone watching.

"You're going to need more power than that to stop me!" Stain dodged another shot of fire from Todoroki, while the esper grunted with more frustration. Once Todoroki finished his fire attack and launched a volley of ice, Kageyama went more on the offensive. He lunged forward and attempted to strike a jab on the villain's cheek, but Stain was able to easily avoid it.

"You've increased your speed too, but it's still not enough, and your movements are still too predictable!" The villain swung at the esper with another small blade, slashing him through his right arm and causing Shigeo to once again yell out in pain. Shoto summoned another volley of ice, but Stain still avoided the attack. The Hero Killer prepared to bring the small blade to his mouth, but Shigeo used his telekinesis to move the blade out of his hand and send it into the wall. Stain's lips curved downward: so the child could move things with his mind as well. He could see why this child relied on his quirk so heavily if it could be used in so many different ways. That would make this fight more difficult than anticipated.

While this was happening, the tears in Iida's eyes began to grow larger, as he watched his friends continue to fight the Hero Killer.

"You have to run," Iida said in a pleading voice that was barely above a whisper.

The dual quirk-wielding teenager grunted. "You wanna make your brother proud, don't you! Then stand up and be Ingenium! Become the hero he wanted you to be!"

This statement rung the deepest for Tenya, and the teenager could no longer hold back his tears. Watching his friends continue fighting for him, bleeding for his sake, risking their lives for his safety, and what did he do? He was just sitting on the ground because he recklessly went after Stain by himself, wanting to use his brother's name to take revenge on the man who hurt him, too focused on enacting this vengeance to help anyone else. It was then that it dawned upon him the veracity of Stain's words. These three were different from him: Tenya was nothing compared to any of them. Even so, that didn't mean he would just stand there and do nothing!

These thoughts were running through the teenager's mind while Shigeo and Shoto were combating the Hero Killer. The esper was dealing with the growing pain from his flesh wounds while his friend continued launching his fire and ice attacks. He was also trying to muster up even more energy if he could, coming to the conclusion that he needed more power than this to overcome the Hero Killer. He tried to use his emotions as fuel again, his aura surrounding him. Mob could do better than this!

_10%_

Shigeo felt that this was the most energy his psychic power could offer him at the moment, but hopefully it would be enough. The Hero Killer lunged for the esper, but Mob lifted his hand up and immobilized him. Stain could feel that the power surrounding him was more intense than before. Shigeo followed up with his attack and proceeded to slam the villain into the wall. Stain let out a small yelp of pain, but Mob repeated the action, slamming him between two walls so that he collided with the walls a total of four times.

"DAMN IT!" Stain yelled with frightening vice, and he used all the strength he had to break free of the esper's grip. As soon as he did, he kicked Mob in the stomach with enough force to cough up some blood and sent him flying back several meters, but Shigeo used his telekinesis to stop himself, and he stood right beside Todoroki.

Stain was beginning to get a better and better picture of the threat the esper posed: he had to focus his efforts on him to try and take him out of this fight. And he knew just the way to do it.

The Hero Killer sprinted forward at full speed, momentarily catching both teenagers off-guard. As he got closer, it became apparent that Stain was targeting Kageyama, so the esper brought his aura out and prepared to stop the foe again with his telekinesis. But then, Stain made an unexpected move and threw a knife at Todoroki. Shigeo saw that the knife was aimed for his friend's head and would deal lasting damage, so he extended his hand and stopped the knife with his telekinesis. Alas, this was exactly the reaction that Stain had anticipated, and as Shigeo was distracted with the knife, the villain brought his blade forward and attempted to sever the arm from the esper's body.

"KAGEYAMA!"

Unfortunately for the Hero Killer, it just so happened that Iida's time limit had finally expired, and he was able to move his body again. He had abandoned his desire to get vengeance on his brother's attacker, and now, the teenager was filled with a new determination: to stand tall and defend his friends from this villain, to live up to his brother's name and bear the title "Ingenium" with pride.

"Recipro Burst!"

Tenya was able to use his amazing speed to save Mob and react more quickly that Shoto could, breaking the blade in half before following up with a powerful side kick, sending the villain back several meters. Stain was barely able to defend against the teenager's kick, noting his high speed.

"So you're free too," said Todoroki, "Guess his quirk isn't as amazing as I thought it was."

"Todoroki, Midoriya, Kageyama, this has nothing to do with you. I apologize."

"Come on, Iida, this again?" the esper said, agitated by his friend's desire to get them to leave.

"I'm ok, but I won't let the three of you shed any more blood for me." Iida lifted his head up to look at his friends, and when he did, Shigeo could see there was something different in him. The burning hatred in his eyes he'd seen before had vanished, just as Mob had been hoping for, and now Iida was ready to stand up and fight alongside his friends.

The Hero Killer, however, was not dazzled or convinced of Iida's actions or sudden change of heart. "It's no use trying to pretend you're a hero now. A person's true nature doesn't change in just a few minutes. You'll never be anything but a fraud who prioritizes his own desires! You're the sickness that's infected society and ruined the name "hero"! Someone must teach you a lesson!"

"You're wrong!" Mob absolutely refused to accept what the Hero Killer was saying. "Do you see the same boiling look of hatred in his eyes as before, because I don't! Look, it might be true that what Iida did wasn't the right thing to do, that he shouldn't have ignored the other hero who was in trouble, but we've helped him see that, all three of us. By being there to protect him, to speak to him, we managed to get through to our friend. Through those words and actions, we reminded him of the kind of person he wants to be, the faith Ingenium has in him as a human. Because of that, Iida was able to overcome his desire for revenge, and he was able to change."

The other three friends were put off by the esper's words, Todoroki especially since he hadn't seen Kageyama talk to Stain before. "And that's the way we should try to change society. If we work towards finding people who're on the wrong path, we can be there to help steer them on the right one. We can all lift each other up, no one is worthless."

The Hero Killer's body began to shake with indignation, the grip on his broken blade tightening. "Be quiet, child. Do not say another word..."

"Proof that change is possible is standing right in front of you, so why don't you accept it? Why don't you believe that people can change?"

"BECAUSE I'VE ALREADY WASTED MY TIME TRYING TO CHANGE OTHERS!" The Hero Killer's fierce voice echoed through the alleyway, and the teenagers all stood silent. Stain had enough of Mob's incessant prattling, and partly taking inspiration from the esper, decided to shed light on why he started this crusade.

"When I was growing up, the one person that stood out to me more than anything was All Might, the number one hero. I saw this man, the shining Symbol of Peace who used his power to usher in an era of peace, whose only interest was the well-being of the citizens, and who brought hope to the nation. I wanted to be a hero just like him, someone strong who use their powers to help people, and so I enrolled at a private hero school. When I went, I was excited, hoping to see other like-minded individuals who bore the same conviction as me, but I was sorely mistaken. All the students enrolled there were interested solely in the money, the glory that would come with being a hero. Not a single person there wanted to help society.

"I was disgusted by what I saw, the way people had become corrupted, so I dropped out of that school, and I went out on the streets. I tried to get people to realize that a hero was someone who acted only in the interests of other people, that a hero was someone who risked their life for the sake of others, who earned that word through their actions and their conviction, and that those who took that title with only themselves in mind were wrong." The Hero Killer's fists tightened, and his gaze went to the ground.

"But I accomplished NOTHING. I changed NO ONE. It was then that I understood that words were futile, that the only way society would see the error of its ways was through action, to cull the false heroes who've infected society with their selfishness and hypocrisy."

The Hero Killer looked back up into Mob's eyes, and he could feel a growing intensity surrounding Stain. "You have no understanding of the selfishness and greed burned into the human heart, the impossibility of removing that darkness from the soul! There are the few worthy heroes such as you and your two friends who have earned that title through self-sacrifice and nobility, but this society is mired with too many hypocrites, corrupting society and ruining the name "hero"! That is why I will continue my purge!" The intensity of Stain's aura continued to grow, and his voice became louder, his hatred becoming more and more apparent.

"I will not rest until the word "hero" has been reclaimed, and I will fight however many heroes it takes to accomplish that goal! The only man who has permission to stop me is All Might, for he is worthy!"

All of the teenagers were frozen for a brief period, the aura exuding from the villain overwhelming them. The first one to recover from this shock was Mob, who had taken in everything that the Hero Killer had said. Stain was doing this because he truly believed that words were useless, that there was no other way to change society, and that the people he viewed as evil were irredeemable. But that wasn't true! Kageyama DID understand the selfishness of a person's heart, how deep it ran in their soul. But despite that, there had been so many people who Kageyama had managed to change, who seemed as though they were hopeless! Even Suzuki, the most selfish and depraved person he'd come across, had managed to change in the end! And Kageyama wasn't the saint that Stain thought he was! The time spent in Mogami's world showed Mob who he could have become, how much he needed other people to help him become a good person! If there was only some way to show him this...

"I've got it!" The esper felt a light bulb go off in his head, and he shook his two friends out of their frozen states. "You guys, I think I have an attack that's going to do the trick!"

It took Todoroki and Iida a few seconds to regain their voices. "You-you do?" Todoroki said.

"Yes, but I'm gonna need time to charge it!"

"How much time do you need?" asked Iida.

"Twenty, maybe thirty seconds! I know it's a risk, but you have to trust me!"

The Hero Killer rushed toward the three teenagers, but Todoroki fired another burst of flames at the Hero Killer, forcing him to jump up and dodge.

"Ok, we'll do what we can," replied Todoroki, "But hurry!"

Shoto didn't need to say that twice: Shigeo's energy enveloped him, though that energy was being channeled into his palm. The teenagers believed that Kageyama was preparing some sort of final attack, using all the energy he could to deliver the final blow to the Hero Killer, but they were mistaken. Unbeknownst to them, Kageyama was actually infusing this attack with his memories: the esper had realized that the only possible way that Stain could understand what Mob was talking about was if he saw it himself. If he could see what he'd gone through, see the people Mob had changed and the ways that others had changed Mob, then he'd understand.

Shigeo knew this was a big risk: doing this could likely mean exposing the truth about Mob to this villain and potentially his other friends as well, and there was the possibility that Stain wouldn't believe the visions he saw, but the esper knew there was no other choice! In Shigeo's eyes, changing someone was more important than keeping his secret, and if there was even a slim chance that Kageyama could do something to change the Hero Killer, that the villain could learn from Shigeo's experiences and the people he'd changed, then he would take that chance without hesitation!

Todoroki continued his attacks of ice and fire, managing to stall the Hero Killer effectively. Iida attempted to jump back into action and defend Shigeo, but his engines weren't following his commands. Was it because of that kick he just landed? Did it break the radiator?

"You're in the way!" The Hero Killer threw one of his knives at Kageyama, who was too focused on channeling his energy to stop it, but Iida jumped in front of the psychic, blocking the knife with his arm.

"Why won't you stay down?!" Stain threw another knife, but Iida stopped it again with his arm.

"Thank you, Iida!" The esper was grateful for the help of his two friends: thanks to them, his final attack was ready. "It's ready!"

The Hero Killer jumped back on the ground, putting up his guard, for he knew that this child's final attack would likely be the finishing blow. Shigeo lunged forward, the rainbow-colored ball of energy swirling brightly in his hand.

"You never learn, do you?" the villain said, believing the esper to be repeating his same basic attack pattern. But Shigeo had learned his lesson: only a few feet away from Stain, Mob made a sudden movement to the side. The Hero Killer gasped, as did everyone else in the alleyway. Shigeo was using his telekinesis to move rapidly and unpredictably, mimicking Hanazawa's movements during their first fight. The increased speed that came with 10% of Shigeo's power and his new movements caught Stain off-guard, giving Mob just the opening he needed.

The psychic blitzed toward the Hero Killer and unleashed the ball of energy at the villain's head. The ball of energy burst into a brilliant flash of rainbow colors as it surrounded the villain's head.

* * *

_All of a sudden, the scene in front of the Hero Killer disappeared. All of the heroes he'd been fighting just now were gone: in it's place, there was a school. There were multiple muscular teenagers wearing some sort of gym uniforms standing above the unconscious bodies of dozens of students. The foe perked his eyebrows up when he saw Kageyama standing at the side, his body tied up with ropes, but what was even more peculiar was the ball of energy floating next to him._

_Stain didn't understand what he was seeing. What was going on? Why was this scenery playing in front of him, and what did it mean? Was this Kageyama's doing? From what he was seeing, Kageyama looked slightly younger, shorter and less built-up than he was now. Was this... a memory? Now the Hero Killer understood it: that ball of energy wasn't meant as a final attack against Stain. He had infused it with memories, to try and show Stain something. But what? Did the child really think that there was something he could show him that could possibly change his conviction?_

_Well, if he was being shown this, the Hero Killer decided to might as well observe everything he could, and figure out what was going on in this scene. Since Kageyama was tied up, Stain presumed that he had been captured, and since he was wearing the same outfits as those other muscular teenagers, he concluded that those people had come to rescue Kageyama._

_One of the beaten middle schoolers talked about contacting someone named "Hanazawa", and from behind the group of muscular teenagers, a blonde teenager appeared. Was that child their leader?_

_"Did some stray gorillas wander in? Do I need to tame them? You're aware of the term "organized violence", right? Those pieces of trash you see lying around you represent my authority within my life at school, so you've basically thrown mud in my face."_

_The other middle schooler laughed and bragged about their "shadow leader", Teruki Hanazawa, though the blonde teenager proved to be rather merciless, as he did not tolerate the failings of his underling and punched him. The Hero Killer was impressed by the speed at which he moved, and the other five teenagers were under the impression that he teleported._

_The muscular teenagers attempted to leave and go back to their training, though Hanazawa glared back at them with icy eyes and declared they wouldn't leave unless he said so. The Hero Killer scoffed: this was a pompous, self-righteous ingrate who held an iron first over those at this middle school. The five teenagers surrounded Hanzawa, while he monologued about being the star, but then, the teenager pointed to the back alley and ordered someone to come out._

_Sure enough, there was another middle schooler hiding in the corner. Hanazawa proceeded to easily take care of his opponents, using some sort of telekinetic push to blow them all away, while he threw the other middle schooler back with a single swipe. His quirk looked rather powerful. Stain was waiting for the other teenagers to unleash their quirks as well, but for some reason, they still attempted to fight with their fists. More bizarre was how the muscular teenagers assumed that they were blown away because Hanazawa had some "unique musculature". Could they not tell that this was a quirk?_

_Teruki once again blew them away, and tanked the other middle schooler's punches like they were nothing. With all of them down, the only one that remained was Kageyama, who was still tied up._

_"You shouldn't use them against people," Kageyama said._

_"What're you talking about?"_

_"I'm talking about your psychic powers." Kageyama used his telekinesis to undo the binds around him. "The one's that you've been hitting them with. You should never use them for fighting."_

_Upon seeing Kageyama's power, Hanazawa's mouth gaped open, and his eyes widened like saucers. This only served to confuse Stain more. Why was this teenager so startled by this? Having a quirk was a common occurrence in this society, so this shouldn't have been such a big deal to Hanazawa._

_"What a surprise: guess there're other middle school-aged espers besides you, Shigeo. Though it looks like he's surprised to find one as well." The ball of energy spoke up, though Stain didn't understand what he was saying. That thing called Kageyama and Hanzawa "espers" instead of just quirk users, and from what it sounded, having powers was a rarity. But why? Did... Kageyama come from a place where people hadn't manifested quirks except for them? But that still didn't make sense why he'd be one of the few people who had a quirk. More than 80% of the population in society had a quirk, so such a place would really be out of the ordinary._

_Well, Hanazawa took this news very seriously, wanting to clearly establish his superiority, and struck Mob with the same attack he'd used before. However, Kageyama took no damage from it, shocking Hanazawa. Despite the fact that Hanazawa had started the engagement, Mob did not want to continue it and extended a hand of friendship. The blonde teenager instantly moved back and moved around using his quirk. Those movements... they looked a lot like the movements Kageyama had used before striking him with his energy attack. So he'd copied the movements of Teruki._

_The blob of energy, or the ghost that was haunting Mob as he'd described it, insisted that Kageyama retaliate and fight back, but he refused, stating that he couldn't use his powers to hurt other people. The villain was surprised that he'd think such a rule would apply now when he was in the midst of a battle and when Teruki was intent on defeating Shigeo to prove his superiority. Dimple voiced this same thought process, but Shigeo responded by giving the words from a master about not using his psychic powers to hurt others. Shigeo continued explaining himself._

_"I won't use them in a fight. Also, I don't want to live a life relying on psychic powers. I'm going to find some other potential within me to nurture. I'm gonna improve myself." Stain was rather surprised by Kageyama's statement, that he was choosing not to use his psychic powers and how he wanted to become a better person. Stain couldn't help but feel mildly fascinated by this noble goal of his._

_Hanazawa continued his assault, throwing Kageyama around like a rag doll, but he still did nothing to fight back. Meanwhile, Hanazawa continued monologuing about himself, going so far as to say the world revolved around him. Stain rolled his eyes: what unbelievable arrogance. But then, Dimple intervened, attempting to finish Kageyama's fight since he refused to, but Hanazawa easily eliminated the spirit with a single slash of his hand._

_At first, Kageyama seemed mildly saddened, but he seemed to have quickly gotten over it. So this spirit, this "Dimple" as Kageyama called it, really was just haunting him. Hanazawa continued his assault, determined to defeat Kageyama, but still, he refused to fight back. Stain was confounded by how dead-set he was on this belief, for he knew that no matter what, this battle would have to end with a victor and a loser._

_The battle continued, with Hanazawa using a multitude of different attacks and throwing him through the school. Teruki launched a volley of knives, but one rebounded on Shigeo's shield, slicing the top of his hair off. Teruki's fury boiled over, and he used his psychic power to channel it into his tie, creating a make-shift sword to strike Kageyama with. As he did, he repeated his self-glorifying speech, calling himself the chosen one of this world, disgusting Stain._

_Mob did not understand why Hanazawa had such much confidence in himself, but as the blonde teenager spoke, the bowl-haired teenager made a rather deep comment, explaining that Hanazawa had no confidence in himself, that he was afraid of being a nobody without his psychic powers. Teruki fiercely rejected this claim, and actually rushed toward Kageyama, choking him._

_Stain's eyes bulged. Teruki was doing everything he could to get Shigeo to use his psychic abilities, to push him to the very limit. Shigeo just had to give in by now: it had to be clear to him that ending this peacefully was not an option, and Hanazawa wasn't going to stop unless he retaliated with his psychic powers. The Hero Killer saw Shigeo's right hand glow with energy, waiting for the esper to strike back, but instead of a psychic attack, all that came was a light, pathetic punch with no energy._

_Stain was baffled: even backed into a corner like this, even when he was being choked to death, when any sane person would use their power to defend themselves, Shigeo was still holding strong. He was still refusing to use his psychic powers because he didn't want to hurt Hanazawa. This child had an unbelievably strong conviction, stronger than he'd ever expected, and Stain was very impressed. Even so, that wasn't going to be enough, because Hanazawa would not be satisfied with this. This was still going to end with one winner and one loser._

_"Don't you get it? People can't change that easily," said Hanazawa, mirroring the Hero Killer's own thoughts. "Just give it up. Use your psychic powers. If you don't, I'm going to..."_

_The scenery went to black, and when it returned, a haunting image appeared. Kneeling on the ground, Kageyama stood in the destruction of the entire middle school. Stain internally sighed: so it had ended just as he'd anticipated, with a winner and a loser. But why didn't Shigeo show him what had happened? Why did he cut out that part? More than that, why did he choose to destroy the entire school in the process? That just seemed like unnecessary damage, and Shigeo didn't seem like someone who would do that, unless he had some sort of deep anger that he was holding in that burst open. Did he choose to cut out that part because he was ashamed he'd lost control of his emotions like that?_

_That seemed to be the most logical conclusion to the Hero Killer as he watched tears streaming down Shigeo's face. Stain was yet again startled: the esper was breaking down like a child because he'd broken the promise he'd made to himself, used his psychic powers against another person and destroyed the school in the process. Such raw emotion..._

_Stain saw the destroy rubble floating down from the sky, and watched as Shigeo used his powers to rebuild the school and undo the damage that had been done. As he did this, Hanazawa reappeared, but his clothes had been destroyed._

_"Hanazawa, I'm sorry about yo-"_

_"Wait, Kageyama." The Hero Killer noticed that the fiery, self-righteous look in his eyes had disappeared. "I'm... really sorry for going so far against you."_

_The other unconscious teenagers who'd been defeated by the muscular teenagers woke up, and upon seeing Hanazawa, all fled to ensure they did not meet the same fate. "Those guys. You saw it, Kageyama. It's just as you said it was: take away our psychic powers, and we're nothing more than regular people."_

_The Hero Killer gasped in mild shock, not anticipating the battle to end this way. Now he understood why Kageyama showed him this memory: it was to demonstrate the way Hanazawa had changed. But the Hero Killer quickly scoffed to himself, not convinced of what he was seeing. If this was all the esper had to show to him, Stain wasn't impressed._

_As it so happened, there were several more memories that were next in line. The scene shifted yet again: now, the bowl-haired teenager was standing in a large crowd of multiple different people, each of them bearing very different and bizarre appearances. Standing beside Shigeo was a man with a suit and orange hair, but more surprisingly was the same spirit that had been eliminated before. So he'd managed to come back from annihilation? And the man in the suit, was that the master that Kageyama was talking about, Reigen? Stain assumed this, but why were they all gathered here?_

_From the front of the crowd, a man spoke to the crowd and gave Stain some vital information: they were all summoned here to exorcise an evil spirit that was possessing the man's daughter, and he was offering a large reward to the one who could exorcise a spirit. Stain was yet again baffled by this terminology: they were talking about ghosts, about supernatural occurrences. They actually existed? And people existed who had powers to eliminate those spirits? If that was the case, then was the power that Kageyama and these "psychics" possessed even technically a quirk, or was it something else entirely? This was becoming more and more bizarre for Stain._

_Stain decided to equate these psychics to regular heroes, and felt disgusted by the interest all these psychics had with the monetary gain, doing this solely for the large reward they'd receive. The psychics began to argue who'd go first, so it was decided with a game of rock-paper-scissors, and Stain was mildly amazed that Reigen bested all those people. He went in and talked to the girl, and Stain was beginning to doubt the veracity of the father's claims of evil spirits. The other psychics were starting to suspect this as well, claiming the father was at fault, but Reigen defended the client, bringing up some holes that the Hero Killer failed to notice._

_Suddenly, the room the girl had been held in burst open, for the evil spirit that had been possessing the girl's body. Stain wondered how the psychics would handle this, what they'd do to remove this evil spirit. They were even worse than he thought: each of them were doing absolutely ridiculous things, displaying no remarkable power or strength whatsoever. These "psychics" didn't even deserve to carry that title._

_Stain noticed that Dimple was shaking with fear, and urged Reigen and Shigeo to leave while they could. The villain wondered what was making the spirit so fearful, and Dimple gave the backstory of someone named Keiji Mogami. Apparently, he was a very popular psychic that used his abilities to help people who needed it, but as it happened, he was also an assassin who used his abilities to kill others in order to get the money needed for his mother's treatment. Stain felt a sense of pity for this man, knowing he was making a sacrifice for the sake of his mother and taking note of how he used his psychic powers to help others, a sign of a man who used his power to benefit society._

_Dimple continued, recounting the time when he encountered Mogami himself. The psychic had attempted to exorcise the evil spirit, explaining his plan to absorb the energy of evil spirits to increase his strength before committing suicide, planning to become an evil spirit himself once he died. When Dimple asked him why, he gave his reason:_

_"To take my revenge. I'm gonna teach a lesson to those bastards who think nothing bad could ever happen to them. I'm going to show them what true hatred is. Those who use others and toss them aside will know fear, and you're going to help me do it."_

_But Mogami absorbed too much energy at once, giving Dimple a chance to escape. And according to Dimple, the evil spirit possessing the girl was Mogami himself. Stain went back to the girl, who was breaking free of her restraints._

_"All of you are weaklings. You're pathetic. None of you are worthy of your lives, so I'll take them!" Peculiar: that sounded like something Stain would say._

_Another psychic came to try and exorcise it, displaying a greater degree of power than the others, but he quickly failed, and Mogami was able to easily overcome this new psychic, deriding him for his low power and using his abilities to possess him. Reigen quickly reacted by kneeing him in the stomach, though Mogami recuperated and proceeded to choke him. Kageyama was trying to stop the evil spirit, but it seemed he was too strong. Then, in a display of affection, the father embraced his daughter to try and break Mogami's hold, but alas, the ghost stabbed the father, a very gruesome display that Stain hadn't anticipated._

_The other psychics were filled with great fear and attempted to flee, an action that greatly sickened the Hero Killer. To run away like cowards at the first sign of trouble after taking this job, it was utterly spineless. But the psychics quickly found escape to be impossible, for Mogami had barricaded them in the room._

_"You're supposed to be professionals who deal with the world of dead," Mogami said, "Pitiful. Didn't you come here to save this girl? At the first sight of death, you all start screaming and running like cowards. It's sad how far the psychic world has fallen."_

_It was almost as if Mogami had taken the words right out of Stain's mouth. These two appeared to have much in common when it came to their principles and convictions, but the Hero Killer still felt unnerved and nominally revolted at the way Mogami had stabbed the father in such a ruthless way. Even if the man was in his way, he was still just a bystander trying to help his daughter..._

_More psychics were easily overpowered by the evil spirit's strength and impressive fighting abilities, but by this time, Kageyama decided to intervene, using his telekinesis to immobilize Mogami. But in a sickening display, the evil spirit twisted the girl's body beyond its usual range of motion, forcing Shigeo to let go. The esper followed up with another psychic attack, momentarily forcing Mogami out, but after a burst of energy, the evil spirit re-entered the body, but it seemed as though he was even more deeply ingrained into her body._

_Kageyama confirmed this, and Mogami's superior strength. The evil spirit taunted Mob before beating more of the psychics. But instead of giving up, Kageyama realized another way to get the evil spirit out: by chasing him from the inside, leaving his own body to enter hers. Dimple pointed out the flaw of leaving Kageyama's body exposed, and so he asked Dimple to possess his body. After Dimple agreed, Mob closed his eyes, leaving his body and becoming a spirit himself._

_While Dimple distracted Keiji, Shigeo came from behind and entered the body of the girl. When it did, the room disappeared, and there was only white, empty vastness surrounding the Hero Killer. In this empty space, there was Kageyama and Mogami in what Stain assumed to be his original appearance. The evil spirit welcomed him into the world of the mind before attacking with a blast of energy. Shigeo put up a barrier, but Mogami followed up by telekinetically choking the esper. However, Kageyama broke free, shocking Keiji with his unbelievable power, and tearing the evil spirit's limbs apart until he was a bloodied corpse on the ground._

_As the evil spirit laid on the ground, he asked a question that the Hero Killer himself was wondering: how these psychic powers worked. __If these powers were indeed not a quirk, then Stain wanted to know how they functioned._

_Mogami began to explain that feelings were derived from emotions, but s__uddenly, the evil spirit appeared behind Shigeo, looking completely uninjured, breaking the esper's wrist before landing a strong punch to Kageyama's face, bringing him to the ground. __Shigeo lifted his hand to try and stop Mogami, but the spirit stepped down on his hand, while his other foot pressed down on Shigeo's face. The Hero Killer frowned to himself, for this position almost exactly mirrored what he'd done with Iida in their brief scuffle, and he could see some tears of fear forming in Shigeo's eyes._

_The evil spirit continued speaking, revealing that he'd allowed Shigeo in here deliberately, and discussing how negative feelings were stronger than positive ones, and the more stress on one's shoulders, the greater the energy built within. This meant that Mob could become even stronger than he was now: all he needed to do was change his view of the world, and Mogami offered to help him with that._

_Stain felt a mild sense of uneasiness creep up on him: what did Mogami mean by "help him"? Suddenly, the scene shifted, and Kageyama was in his pajamas, waking up in his home. What happened? Was it over? Why would Kageyama skip such a vital moment, leave this hole open?_

_The teenager got up, getting ready to go to school, but as he was walking out of his home, the Hero Killer began to hear Mogami's voice._

_"Shigeo Kageyama. Here, you're just an average middle schooler. I've taken the liberty of altering your memories, as well as removing your powers. Change your point of view of the world in a totally different place. And now for something completely different: let's see what you're like without your abilities."_

_Stain was confused at how he was able to hear Mogami's voice. The evil spirit had watched Shigeo during his time in this world and spoke to him through his subconscious in order to partly influence his decisions, and once the esper had regained his memories, the moments that Mogami had spoken to him came as well. Besides this detail, Stain still wasn't getting why the evil spirit had put Kageyama in this world: what was the point?_

_The day continued, and the esper was now in a classroom with classmates and as it did, Mogami continued giving details: in this world, Shigeo had no one and nothing. No friends, no family, and no psychic powers. Everything created was based on real-life people, so this world could have happened if his circumstances had been slightly different. Stain was interested in how Minori was in the class, joining as a new student. Kageyama had no memory of her or his job to save her._

_The day went on, and Shigeo came across two bullies who demanded money. When he revealed he had none, they became enraged and began to beat him, but what was particularly frustrating was when someone walked by and completely ignored his plight, letting the bullies continue to beat him. As if that wasn't enough, according to Mogami, this was supposed to be his younger brother. Such cruelty being inflicted on this child..._

_The scene went back to the school, where Minori was calling out Mob for not going to her welcoming party. She proceeded to humiliate him in front of the entire class, and during lunch, she poured milk all over him. While this happened, Stain heard Mogami's voice, who was explaining that Shigeo's desire to improve himself and focus on interpersonal relationships were the thoughts of someone blessed with that option, and that subconsciously, he knew that he could solve his problems with his psychic powers._

_"I have created this world in accordance with your fragile and weak mind. However, do not misunderstand my intentions. None of his is your fault. You've done nothing wrong."_

_So that was the reason Mogami put him in this world: to try and change his mindset, to make him give into his darkness, because he believed Kageyama to be weak of spirit, and putting him through this would harden him..._

_This bullying scene continued, where it quickly escalated to a brawl, and the esper was taken outside to be beaten by the bullies, using their numbers to prey on the weak._

_Stain was beginning to feel a pit of nausea grow in his stomach. Just how long was the esper put in here? That question was about to be answered very shortly: the surroundings changed again, and the esper was walking through a park with a bowl and some milk in his hands. As he did, he could see Mogami walking beside him, continuing to speak to the teenager._

_"Fear, rage, hatred, anxiety, all those negative emotions are welling up inside of you, and after six months of life in this world, you're reaching the breaking point." The Hero Killer jerked his head back in horror: he's spent six months in this world, this hell? Mogami had left him here for that long?_

_Stain watched another gut-wrenching scene unfold where Shigeo was trying to feed a stray, but Minori and her goons arrived. Being the depraved people that they were, they decided to beat the cat until it died while they simultaneously pummeled Shigeo, who tried but failed to protect the defenseless creature. Stain was repulsed at the cruelty being displayed by this girl._

_The evil spirit sat beside him, and proceeded to fill the esper in on everything of his past, giving Stain the chance to get the full picture of who Mogami was._

_"I was born with the ability to see ghosts, and I even had the power to exorcise them. At first, I used my powers for good, helping people and solving their problems. My popularity went up, and I even managed to get my own television show. But I needed money: my mother was hit with a mysterious illness, and the fees for her treatment were beyond obscene. It was stupid of me, but I actually let them show that on television, use my sob story to attract more attention and media. My mother was transferred to a good hospital, but the camera crew kept following me everywhere. Still, I needed money, so I took underground jobs and assassination jobs, all-while continuing my day job as a psychic. I worked in surface and the dark without sleep just to make end's meet._

_"I had a sore conscience at first, but I struggled through it for my mother. But despite all that, she still died. The cause remained unclear to the doctors, but I found out the truth. After she died, my mother came back as an evil spirit and told me what had happened: the actions I'd taken had brought evil around me, and that was what ended up plaguing her. I should've doubted my way of life, how I was being used by others. And so after my death, I became an evil spirit and decided to use my powers for myself this time: to change the world. I sought out those who brought misery and misfortune to others, and punished them. By dwelling in this young girl's body, I knew I'd be able to take down a number of these self-proclaimed psychics as well. These acts of justice are how I chose to use my abilities. You are allowed to use your powers for yourself: you SHOULD use them for yourself. You understand that now, don't you?"_

_Now, Stain saw how Kageyama had understood him so well. Even though their origins were not the same and their targets were not identical, both he and Mogami had the same intense hatred for what they viewed as evil, and they both wielded the same conviction which led them on same mission to change this corrupted society by eliminating those who they viewed were corrupting it. But despite these similarities, Stain didn't like this. He didn't like what Mogami was doing._

_To go this far, to put a child through this kind of agony... Stain killed people, yes, but he never tortured them. That's what this was: psychological torture. And yet... would he? If Stain had the same abilities as Mogami, if he found a like-minded individual who he did not want to walk down the same misguided path as he once did, would he put them through this same kind of misery to change them, to make them join him in his mission to change society? Stain wanted to say that it was ridiculous, that he wouldn't stoop so low, and yet another part of him wasn't so sure about that. Stain was already prepared to kill a child, but more than that, he almost sliced off the arm of someone he viewed as worthy of being a hero just to fulfill his mission and get the advantage in battle. Would torture like this really be out of the realm of possibility for the Hero Killer? These questions were creating much internal strife, causing him great anxiety and uneasiness. But perhaps what was more concerning for Stain was what was going to happen to Kageyama. Would he give in as Mogami wanted? As much as he'd like to believe that Shigeo would persevere, Stain felt that the negative emotions would burst out just as Mogami was suspecting they would, and he'd crack under this horrendous pressure._

_Mob was now back at class, where the bullies surrounded him. Once the class was over, they took him outside and proceeded to beat him while he stood on the ground defenseless. As this happened, Mogami's voice grew louder and louder. _

_"Are you frustrated, enraged? Do you hate them? Do you despise them? They are a cancer to society! Stop letting them use you however they choose! Let yourself be reborn as my sympathizer! I shall give you strength! Make your negative emotions explode, AND THEN USE THEM AGAINST THE ENTIRE WORLD!"_

_To the Hero Killer's dismay, the esper finally unleashed his anger and the psychic powers that Mogami had kept locked away. It had finally happened. No longer willing to take this punishment, Kageyama stood over the wimping and pathetic girl before him, who was making empty threats toward the esper._

_"Apologize," he said with an icy voice. "APOLOGIZE!" With tears in her eyes and snot dripping down, she made a pathetic apology. Stain was expecting Shigeo to finish the job, considering how far he'd gone, but he was very baffled by what came next from the esper._

_"If you ever bother me again, you'll regret it." Stain chuckled to himself: even after all that, he was still willing to let her go, and he still had mercy in his heart. But sadly, things weren't going to play out so smoothly: Minori pulled out a knife and stabbed the esper, while another bully came in and hit him with a large rock. As he stood on the ground, the girl smiled with monstrous glee and declared that he should just die. The esper made a small psychotic chuckle, and that was the final key Stain needed to see to understand that he'd finally turned. It was a shock to see that someone as honorable as him could fall like this, but after everything the child had gone through, even Stain couldn't blame him for this. Anyone would crumble under this kind of pain. The months in this world had finally taken their toll and broken his mind, and Stain watched with a sense of melancholy as Kageyama choked the boy who'd struck him, ready to take a life for the first time. Or so it seemed..._

_From the boy's nostril, Dimple suddenly popped out. The evil spirit realized how far Shigeo was, and proceeded to hit him in the head to snap him out of it, and when this didn't work, he continued speaking, reminding him of who he was and the way he's stuck to his values, even against Hanazawa. And after enough convincing and recollections, the esper successfully regained his memory. But that did not solve the issue at hand._

_"It doesn't matter if your memory's returned to you or not," the evil spirit said, appearing alongside the bullies, "The six months you've spent here are forever etched into your heart and mind. I know you were hearing my voice subconsciously. You know who this girl really is, so do you really want to save her? She's not worth it: let her live, and she'll only continue to make other suffer. You've seen it for yourself._

_"Only the strong can make the choices needed to fix this world." Stain hated the fact that this was something he would also say verbatim, how he believed himself to be strong for doing what he thought needed to be done to make society open their eyes to what they'd created. "You saved her because someone asked you to? They exploit your power when they see fit, and someone has to bear the negative consequences. Will you ignore my sincere advice and walk down the same path as me, youngster?"_

_At this point, Stain had no idea what Kageyama would do. He'd already fallen and chosen to use his powers for himself, and as Mogami said, this world had changed him, changed his true nature. He could see the esper begin to shake with fear. "I'm scared... It was so real..._

_"Maybe you're right. I've only survived this long because I was lucky. I was being treated nicely and able to live through everything. You showed me that the world can be a cruel, messed-up place, and my old self was weak in that world. I was being tortured by people I disliked, living every day in misery. From this world, I have learned one single truth that has changed the way I think."_

_Stain was waiting for it, the line where he accepted the darkness of the world and chose to follow the same path of Mogami, feeling that any normal person would come to that conclusion after witnessing this hell and the dark side of this world. But that line never came._

_"I'm surrounded by amazing people, and I need to be more grateful for them. Once I'm back in the real world, I'll be sure to thank them for everything they've done for me."_

_Shigeo did a complete 180 on Stain's expectations, for not only did the esper outright reject the path that Mogami had led him towards, give into the hatred and anger that dominated his heart in this world, but actually saw it as a way to see how even more amazing the good people in his life were. He was choosing to remain who he was and not let the six months of this world change that._

_"So that's how it's going to be, huh? And here I thought I'd found a kindred spirit, how disappointing."_

_"Oh, and one other thing: when you interact with other people, it can have an effect. And because of that, I was able to change. Thanks to them, I'm stronger, much stronger than if I'd been on my own. If I'm able to change, then anyone should be able to. We can lift each other up, no one is worthless." These words were the same words that the esper had said to Stain: now it made sense why he'd try to repeat those words to him, to try and instill the same message onto Stain as he'd tried to instill on Mogami. But the evil spirit's reaction was almost the same as the Hero Killer's reaction._

_"That's enough, don't say another word. If you do, there will be hell to pay."_

_"The "Shigeo" you created in this world might have lost to you, but I won't. I'm not running: I've got a job to do. I still have to save that awful Minori." Stain was amazed by the esper's decision to stay and fight to save Minori, the very person who'd bullied him so relentlessly, and his respect for this child only grew. He was proving that he really deserved the title "hero". What followed was a very intense battle, with multiple evil spirits swarming the esper. Mob was able to exorcise them at first, but their numbers were proving to be a problem, and he was quickly finding himself overwhelmed._

_As he fought, Mogami spoke to him, trying to tell Shigeo that life was frustrating, devoid of meaning, and painful, all in an attempt to break the esper. Stain watched as Shigeo heard the sorrowful voices of the evil spirits, haunted by their cries and anguish, and he could see more tears forming in his eyes. Was his pain and fear too much? Was he too afraid to face the world now after seeing its cruelty?_

_Out of nowhere, Minori's voice rang out, crying for help. This plea appeared to snap Shigeo out of his state of fear. Actually, it seemed to do more than that: it was awakening something inside the esper._

_"I always thought these powers were trivial, that they were no good to anybody, but I can use them to save people!" Mogami launched an army of evil spirits, but Shigeo was able to easily exorcise them with a blast of psychic energy. Something had changed with Shigeo: both Stain and Mogami could see it._

_"You're not the same boy from earlier! Tell me: who are you?" Dimple, who'd been spectating this battle, believed it to be a power-up triggered by anger, but Stain could instantly tell this wasn't anger: it was willpower. The fear and hesitancy in the psychic's heart had pushed down, and Shigeo's eyes were now sparkling red. The Hero Killer's face split into his widest smile yet: this was courage. Against this army of spirits and the fear encroaching his heart, Shigeo Kageyama was standing tall, for he had finally found his conviction: to save lives._

_It appeared this new emotional power was able to give Mob a tremendous boost that Mogami had not anticipated, for despite the evil spirit's best efforts, Kageyama was able to overpower him, exorcising the former psychic star and ending the battle. Well, that's what Stain thought..._

_Without warning, an even larger army of evil spirits emerged. Mogami, who'd still managed to keep his consciousness, revealed that all the evil spirits he'd taken in and controlled over were freed now that his body had been destroyed, and even he could do nothing to stop them anymore. Shigeo told Dimple to flee, who reluctantly agreed to do so, while the esper stayed behind to cast all these evil spirits out. The battle continued, with the Hero Killer shocked by the power and scope of Kageyama's powers being shown. But even with this power, the overwhelming might of the evil spirits was proving to be too much for even Shigeo, and before he knew it, he was being pushed on the ropes. The evil spirits all surrounded the esper, who was now starting to panic and fear for his life._

_"No, I still have to save her! Wait, it can't end like this!" Stain's body tensed up with anticipation: was this really his end? What was going to happen now? But in a completely confusing and anti-climactic ending, they were now back in the real world. The villain was too startled by this: why had he skipped that part, the ending and most vital part of that dramatic battle? What was Kageyama's reasoning behind not showing him that?_

_Stain didn't have too much time to think about it, for as the teenage esper woke up, Mogami had also escaped. Stain was expecting the evil spirit to try something else, to make another move of some kind as a desperate attempt fueled by anger and frustration, but he simply floated off._

_"You made your choice, kid. I'll keep watching from afar, to see if you made the right one." But out of nowhere, one of the other psychics trapped him in some jar, thanking Kageyama for the unexpected trophy before leaving. Shortly after, Minori, who was finally freed from possession, woke up. She greeted the esper, who proceeded to ask if she was just the same in real life as she was in that world. She replied that she was, before patting Shigeo on the shoulder and giving him the most pathetic apology he'd ever heard in his life. But as it so happened, the grief and guilt quickly spewed out of her in the form of tears._

_"I'm sorry. Really sorry. I was so awful, I'm SO sorry!"_

_Here, Stain was ready for Kageyama to fiercely reject the girl's apology. The esper had already done more than enough by saving her from Mogami's clutches; he didn't have to forgive her for what she'd done. That wasn't a hero's responsibility. Honestly, the Hero Killer would be astonished if Shigeo EVER forgave her. _

_"It's okay: I know."_

_"Know what?"_

_"That people are able to change. Mogami and Minori both taught me that it's possible. The people around me changed me as well. Now I understand that I can do the same thing for others to. So I get it, and I'm glad we were able to meet."_

_All the breath left the Hero Killer's lungs. Even after all that pain and torture, those months of agony that she'd put him through, he didn't hate her? He was able to expunge those negative feelings from his heart? Shigeo didn't even seem to hate Mogami for putting him in that mental world either. It was almost as if the esper was actually GRATEFUL for being put in that world, for learning the lesson that people could change. Such purity of heart..._

_This memory had dealt a great blow to the Hero Killer's psyche: it had shown him that Shigeo could've walked down the same path as Mogami, as the Hero Killer, to change society, and yet he rejected that path, choosing to remain who he was and believe in a person's ability to change. Could the Hero Killer have chosen this path as well? Could he have tried to continue being a hero and change people the way that Shigeo was doing? Most importantly, could a person's nature REALLY change so easily? These questions were racking Stain's brain, dealing heavy damage to his conviction._

_Stain expected this to be the last memory, but there were still more coming. But the next memory, the Hero Killer felt he already knew what was going to happen, because Kageyama had already told him. Shigeo was standing in front of a burning house, with several people crowding around him, wondering what could have happened. Was this really the moment the esper had spoken of, when he felt he was ready to burn the world to ashes?_

_Stain watched as the esper looked through the house, and he couldn't help feeling more and more uneasy as the seconds passed. Dimple, who was also there, informed him that there was a struggle at the door, that someone had broken in. From that reasoning, the esper assumed that this same person had kidnapped them. Shigeo decided to begin looking for clues to his family's location and opened an adjacent door, and guess what was on the other side of that door?_

_Stain thought he had a good idea of the anger Shigeo would show based on what the esper had said. He couldn't have been more wrong. Shigeo's neutral face twisted with unparalleled malice: he released a burst of energy, dispelling the flames around him. Even though this was a memory, it was as if Stain could feel the unbridled aura of rage surround him, and despite the Hero Killer's own iron will and intimidating aura, it was absolutely dwarfed in size and intensity by Shigeo. The Hero Killer felt his entire body freeze up with fear: it was as if he'd been paralyzed himself. There was no way Stain could stand up to this. Such anger... it was something inhuman._

_But before the esper could fully unleash this monstrous rage, Dimple told him to look into his eyes. "I can tell these aren't real bodies! They're only dummies! Some esper probably put them here to try and fool you!"_

_"Come on, Dimple. You expect me to believe that?"_

_Dimple momentarily cowered before regaining his voice. "Think about everything you've seen. It's totally possible. Mob, they're still out there!"_

_Shigeo appeared to contemplate Dimple's words, and from his eyes, he unleashed a blue burst of energy. "I've widened my antennae: around 20 kilometers away, there're two espers with malicious aura."_

_The Hero Killer was startled by the way Kageyama was able to locate them so easily, expand his psychic senses in an instant. But he was more startled by what came next from the esper: tears._

_"Thank you, Dimple. You stopped me, you brought me back." Shigeo was truly afraid of his negative emotions, of allowing them to control him, and the Hero Killer could see that now through those tears. He was still a child, a child struggling to face the world._

_Shigeo quickly wiped the tears from his eyes after Dimple reminded him of the urgency of finding his family. "Of course. I'm going to get all three of them back right now. Whoever did this is gonna pay: it doesn't matter how far they run." Shigeo's eyes changed once again, but even now, Stain could tell that they were different than Iida's eyes, if only slightly. It wasn't vengeance that was fueling the esper: it was determination, an obsession to get his family back from the people who took them, and truthfully, Stain found that determination appropriate for a situation like this._

_After the many shocks he received, Stain was hit with another one when the esper burst through the house, traveling through the sky at unimaginable speeds that let him reach his destination in seconds. If that was the kind of speed he'd used to get from Fukuoka to Hosu City, then it made sense how he got there so quickly. When he found the two espers, he proceeded to easily handle their strongest attacks, taking no interest in inflicting pain on them like someone seething with vengeance would, and instead focusing on finding his family. However, one of the espers revealed that they were simply on their way to attack his house, but hadn't done anything yet, but before he could say anything more, he passed out._

_Mob decided to wait for more of their comrades to arrive to interrogate them instead, but out of nowhere, a car came in, and two people with scars on their faces told him to get in. Funny: they resembled the scars of the man who'd captured Mogami. For some reason, he didn't decline, and he almost acted as if they knew each other. The two men revealed they were going to the location of Mob's friends and master, so Shigeo used his telekinesis to fly them there. After arriving, Stain saw multiple people sitting in the room, taking note on how a few of them also had scars on their face. Reigen was there as well, and listened as Dimple told them what happened. While this happened, Stain could see the lines of worry etched onto Shigeo's face, as if his body was weighed down with fear and anxiety, which made complete sense._

_After Reigen took Dimple aside and spoke to him in private, the master spoke again to Mob and assured him that his family was fine, that somebody started the fire because they knew his family was being targeted, creating the dummies to fool the people targeting his family. Stain could see the way the esper's eyes instantly widened, as if all the anxiety had been lifted. He saw the esper's body begin to fall, but as it did, the surroundings changed, and the esper was now standing an an alleyway alongside Dimple and the members of the Body Improvement Club Stain had heard of, while using his telekinesis to stop someone who appeared to be attacking them. The Hero Killer was able to deduce that Shigeo had passed out, but he didn't figure out how he'd gotten all the way out here._

_The evil spirit filled both Mob and Stain on everything that had happened: apparently, an esper organization known as Claw had started an attack on this city, declaring that they would rule the world with their psychic abilities. One of their operative had kidnapped the Prime Minister to use as a hostage, while their main forces had begun their raid on the city, causing great destruction. While this had happened, one of Claw's members had found Kageyama, attempting to kill him and forcing Dimple to possess him while he was unconscious._

_Now THIS made absolutely no sense to the Hero Killer. Something as large as this would undoubtedly bring the attention of several heroes, even All Might himself, and if this had indeed happened not too long ago, Stain was very sure he would've heard about it. So why didn't he? Why were there no heroes being called in to solve this situation? Was this truly such a secluded place, an area so separated from the rest of the world? And they hadn't specified which country the man who was kidnapped was Prime Minister of. So what was the answer to this?_

_Shigeo came across some of the enemy espers looting a store, causing the Hero Killer to scowl in disgust, for he despised criminals who chased petty dreams. To Stain's surprise, it appeared that Shigeo had developed this same kind of animosity towards people who misused their powers in petty ways, as he began explaining that having psychic powers didn't make them better. What was most remarkable to Stain, however, was the building look of anger in his eyes._

_"That reminds me: never use your psychic powers against others. If you haven't come across someone who can show you why, then allow me." The esper's aura built up around him, and Stain slyly smiled. Suddenly, another individual with light purple hair appeared from behind those espers. Stain reasoned that this was some sort of higher ranking soldier, and watched as that man displayed the ability to create and manipulate plants. From there, a battle played out between Shigeo and the enemy espers._

_As the battle went on, the same man who had captured Mogami appeared to lend his assistance, and proceeded to unleash evil spirits. So he had the ability to capture and command evil spirits. As this man ordered those evil spirits, Stain couldn't help but wonder if he'd managed to gain control over Mogami, if he even still had him captured._

_That question was quickly answered: it seemed that one of the enemy espers had found the jar Mogami was sealed in and broke it, freeing the evil spirit. He proceeded to steal the energy of all those espers, regaining the strength that he'd lost._

_"First you trapped me in the poison jar, and now you want me to devour espers. You're such lowly creatures." The plant user attempted to strike Mogami, but the evil spirit displayed superior strength, commanding the plants and using them to make a body for himself while he grabbed the enemy esper. Stain felt no pity or sympathy for this man: he was a criminal using his powers for himself, destroying the city and ruining lives just for his own ambitions, and the world would be better off without him. He waited for Mogami to deal the final blow, but before the evil spirit could squeeze the life out of him, Shigeo's voice rang out._

_"No, stop!"_

_"Why should I? I've been watching and none of these insects deserve to live. Some people never change, no matter how many chances you give them," replied Mogami, saying something that Stain was in agreement with._

_"But, they still might be able to!" Shigeo looked up to the trapped esper. "Promise you won't do anything bad ever again!"_

_"I, I promise I won't! Just spare me please!"_

_"See?" said Mob, though Stain couldn't believe how he'd be convinced by such a meaningless promise like that._

_"What if he's just lying to stay alive? Are you going to personally watch over these people to see if they've reformed? Do you think you can keep an eye on them forever?"_

_"Well... no. But, we need to have faith in one another to get through life. If we can't do that, then we'll never get anywhere."_

_The Hero Killer felt this message ring out to him as well, for he had absolutely no faith in a person's ability to change, which was why he decided to embark on his mission in the first place. But what would Mogami do? Would he really listen to what Shigeo was saying and allow a criminal like this to survive? As it so happened, he would. The evil spirit loosened his grip on the esper while the plant construct he formed began to fade._

_"Predictable, coming from you. But there are things in this world that can't be solved with mere kindness. Sometimes, it's necessary to be tough on people. If you can learn to do that, you will be invincible, Shigeo Kageyama."_

_The villain was left stunned, in disbelief by this. When Dimple suggested that Mogami had disappeared for good this time, that was an even greater shock, for that likely meant that he'd passed on to the afterlife and abandoned his mission. __Mogami had actually let this man go: despite the conviction he held that the world needed to be changed by killing those who were corrupting it, the evil spirit was choosing to believe that people could change if one had faith in them, and imparted some final words of wisdom onto Shigeo before leaving. There was no other way to explain it: Mogami... had changed._

_The esper appeared to contemplate the evil spirit's words before walking toward the base of operations. As he did, his aura flared up, and the debris around him was lifted up. Eventually, Stain saw a man with a red aura around him, who appeared to have noticed the presence of the esper. Stain assumed that this was another upper member of Claw, and the man eagerly waited to battle Mob, but for some reason, he completely ignored the presence of Reigen, which allowed him to land a flurry of punches that brought him to the ground._

_Stain also noticed the other people with scars battered and beaten, concluding that they'd just been defeated by this man. Stain expected the man to continue fighting, to put up some kind of a fight, but to his surprise, the man immediately surrendered. When Reigen asked about the organization's plans and the reason he was giving up, Stain felt his blood boil._

_"The boss is the only one gunning for that. As long as I'm having fun, I don't really care."_

_To cause destruction and chaos like this without any real conviction? This man was a prime example of the type of person that Stain hated the most. As it so happened, Shigeo seemed to feel the same way, the same fury._

_"As long as you're having fun?" the teenager said, "You disrupted the lives of all those people just for that? Are you serious?" The enemy esper gasped with fear, before teleporting away. Stain recalled Dimple describing the kidnapping of the Prime Minister, and came to the conclusion that this was the man who did it. Who knew what would become of him now?_

_Mob's younger brother was among the people who were fighting that man, and Shigeo was immensely relieved upon seeing him, as well as when being informed that their parents were safe as well. The forces tried to prepare their final assault, but Kageyama stopped them, telling them that he would go in alone. Despite their protests, he insisted that their injuries were too severe, and with a tone of regret, said that they would only get in his way._

_Stain could tell instantly this was his interpretation of what Mogami had told him. He was calling out his authority, telling them the truth in a brutal but honest way. Despite this, Stain could see that the esper was in pain, which meant that he was doing this in spite of the fact that it hurt him to do it. Dimple went along with him to face the enemy, and as they were walking, Dimple asked Kageyama whether or not he was scared._

_"Of course," he replied, "But the thought of other people getting hurt scares me even more." Stain smiled to himself again, for this child kept finding new ways to impress him, to show his strong character and keep demonstrating why he deserved to be called a hero. While walking up, they encountered an unkempt man with an umbrella waiting for them. The man was quite an idiot, Stain could tell, because he let go of the hostage and did not even know that their hostage was the Prime Minister until Kageyama pointed it out. This man, whose name was Serizawa, filled them in on his backstory, how he was saved by the boss of Claw. Kageyama pointed out the obvious fact that Serizawa was being used, and a fight broke out._

_The fight itself wasn't remarkable for Stain, but what was remarkable was the way that Kageyama tried to speak to Serizawa, to try and make him understand the error of his ways and how he was being used, remarking on their similarities, mainly not wanting to hurt others. Serizawa vehemently refused to listen, preparing a large blast of energy to fire at the enemy. But Shigeo still tried to help, and what he said was perhaps most amazing for the Hero Killer._

_"Listen! I'll be your friend, you have my word!" Serizawa fired the blast of energy, but Kageyama was able to somehow absorb the blast while absorbing Serizawa's energy as well. Shigeo was using that energy to form a ball in his hand, identical to the ball that he'd thrown at Stain, and fired it back at Serizawa. Stain immediately understood that this attack was infused with his memories as well, and assumed he infused the memories of Hanzawa and Mogami as well._

_Stain was able to see a better picture of the esper now: when confronting his enemies, Shigeo's intentions weren't to defeat them like any other hero would. He wanted to change them, to try and get them to become better people. Seeing the way he spoke to this man made him see this more clearly. Serizawa, who appeared to have lost his fighting spirit and was significantly affected by Kageyama's memories and actions, openly expressed his uncertainty and uneasiness, but then Shigeo, in a baffling display of compassion, actually offered the two of them to sit down while he listened to how Serizawa was feeling._

_The teenager then sat in silence while Serizawa reflected to himself, stating that while he was appreciative for what his boss did, he never understood the need to hurt other people. He then came to the realization that if his happiness came at the cost of someone else's tears, then he didn't want it in the first place, before crying himself and thanking Shigeo for making him realize this. Stain was floored: through only words, through simply being there to talk to him and lend him support, Kageyama was actually able to get Serizawa to change himself. A part of Stain wanted to say that it wasn't true, that Serizawa couldn't truly change and that he'd be forever bound to Claw, but after seeing the ways in which Kageyama had changed others, as well as the genuine tears flowing down Serizawa's face, Stain felt that he had to accept it, accept the fact that Shigeo had managed to change this man._

_Serizawa also informed the teenager that his boss was upstairs fighting his son, and with a downcast look on his face, remarking how he'd beaten his son so badly he couldn't bear to watch and came down, feeling so pathetic for not stepping in that he wanted to disappear. Now it came: the confrontation with the boss of Claw. Stain was sure a battle would start, but was unsure how long it would be before that battle started._

_After walking up the stairs, Stain saw the son of this boss bruised and beaten on the ground while his father stood with a flaring red aura around him. The Hero Killer could instantly tell the power this man held. As Shigeo approached the man, the son of the boss remarked on his appearance, and revealed that he was the one who had set the house on fire. The Hero Killer expected Mob to be upset at this, considering the unbelievable anxiety and anguish that he'd felt believing his family was first killed, then kidnapped, but Shigeo quickly forgave him for his actions, understanding that he was likely going through much. Kageyama was showing his capacity for forgiveness once again, and Stain was again amazed by it._

_The two of them engaged in some dialogue, where the boss of Claw revealed how lowly he thought of his men as well as the little value he placed in relationships with others, believing them to be empty and meaningless. Kageyama objected, stating how everyone grew because of the interactions with others, points that Kageyama had also made when speaking to Stain, while explaining that the boss would need people eventually, and he'd regret not having others there. Then, in the most shocking action so far, Kageyama proceeded to extend his hand out to his foe._

_"Let me help you, when you need somebody to talk to. I'll be there." Astonishing. That was the only word Stain could think to describe this. For the Hero Killer, this wasn't even about whether or not he was right to do this, but that he actually tried to do it at all. Knowing who this man was, the destruction he was causing to his city, and his callous disregard for his soldiers and his son, Kageyama still wanted to help this man, to lend him his ears to listen to his problems. Such compassion..._

_The adult esper mocked his words, believing them to be ridiculous and unnecessary. His son revealed more about his father's abilities, that he possessed a twenty-year stockpile of energy, as well as the ability to give and take psychic energy, which he did for his soldiers. Kageyama noticed the teenager struggling to get up, and gave him his energy. This evoked a violent reaction from the villainous esper, who struck Kageyama with a psychic shockwave to the head. Shigeo quickly recovered, and revealed that he only came up here to talk to his foe. Dimple made the clear point that this was a man who couldn't be talked to, but he was easily kicked out into the sky._

_The two then continued exchanging dialogue, though Stain was still expecting Shigeo to get nowhere, especially with such a selfish, cruel man like this. Kageyama continuing to emphasize the value of human relationships and the way that power was not the only thing that made one special. The adult esper continued rejecting his points, continuing to demonstrate his selfishness and inconsideration, how he believed himself to have no weaknesses, and to Stain's anger, revealed that his only goal in life was to leave a huge mark upon this world. This also seemed to anger Kageyama, but that anger reached its pique when the villain proceeded to deride his son, Sho, for not living up to his expectations and becoming a failure._

_Shigeo used his power to restrain his foe, but the adult esper easily broke free, throttling the teenager around while he ridiculed the child for his weakness. Suddenly, his master made an appearance with a gun in his hand. Here, the memory started to blur, likely due to the damage the child had taken. Once it stabilized, the boss of Claw proceeded to launch an explosion, seemingly killing Reigen. But then, standing in front of Shigeo's master was none other than Serizawa, who was deciding to take a stand against his boss and openly stated he was trying to be courageous for the first time in his life. Stain was yet again having a difficult time accepting the idea that Serizawa's true nature had changed, but was still feeling that it was foolish not to see it, to see the way that Serizawa was openly putting his life against the very man who he so worshipped._

_The adult esper warned Serizawa of what would follow next, but Shigeo, having finally seen that words were not going to do anything, unleashed his aura, his eyes now hardened and ready for battle. The boss tried to launch another attack upon Serizawa, revealing his name in the process, but Kageyama acted quickly to block the energy attack. All of them were sent flying down to the ground, but their fall was broken by large plants. Stain instantly recognized those plants: they belonged to the man that Mogami had spared._

_Kageyama was one of the people who was caught in the plants, since he was forced to take most of the brunt of the explosion, and he was close enough to listen to the conversation._

_"So, the boss really did cast Serizawa aside. Even though I knew from the start what relationship we were in, I still owe Serizawa one, and I don't want the boss to end his life." This man as well: he could've chosen to simply return to his boss' servitude, let his comrade be killed, go back on his word and continue the path of destruction he'd embarked on, but he was choosing to come back, value the bond with his comrade and going against the wishes of Suzuki._

_Toichiro, callous as Stain expected, unleashed several beams of energy upon all the people on the ground. Kageyama's face scrunched with fury, and he proceeded to tackle his foe, but Toichiro easily knocked him down with a mere downward punch, also revealing he was using only 10% of his power. But Kageyama quickly revealed himself that he was holding back himself, taking the match to the sky so he could unleash the full extent of his rage._

_"Now I'm ready to fight you with everything: all my power, and all my rage!"_

_Their massive fight ensued, showing a remarkable degree of power like with the battle against Kageyama and Mogami. Suzuki began maniacally laughing, something that Stain expected from a man like him, but what he WASN'T expecting was that Shigeo was actually following suit. What was he doing?_

_"Look at you! You're enjoying this too, aren't you?" Stain was beginning to feel some minor repulsion at the behavior that Shigeo was displaying: to enjoy the thrill of battle at a time like this, with how much was at stake, it was plain wrong. How could the child allow himself to be caught up in the rush like this?_

_"As good as righteous as you try to sound, deep down, you're the same as me." For a second, Stain contemplated if this man's words were true: was this really who Kageyama was, the nature he hid from everyone? Was he really just someone who lived for the pleasure of battle without considering the lives of others or stopping villains from wreaking destruction?_

_Suzuki slammed the esper down to the ground while yelling to him. __"How does it feel to be released from your shackles? We are freer than anyone else in the world!"_

_Kageyama continued maniacally grinning, and the Hero Killer was just about ready to condemn him as a false hero, but then the teenage esper looked down at his younger brother, who was looking at Kageyama as if he was an entirely different person. It was almost like he was... afraid of Shigeo._

_This single look from his younger brother had a tremendous impact on Kageyama. The look on Shigeo's face made it obvious to Stain that the esper understood what was wrong with his actions, though this also left Kageyama open to attack, allowing Toichiro to land a powerful blow that sent him crashing through multiple buildings. Kageyama floated through the sky on a rock while tears flowed down his face._

_"How could I be so foolish? What's wrong with me? It may have only been for a moment, but I let this power control me!" Stain could see that Kageyama was filled with the utmost shame with himself. In fact, it seemed he was so ashamed of himself, he created a cloud in the sky to hide inside it. Had he seen this before all the other memories, Stain would've likely permanently condemned him as a false hero who was only interested in using his power to feel the rush of big fights, but after seeing how much this child had struggled and overcome, the Hero Killer was more forgiving of this brief lapse of selfishness. He'd also seen how difficult it was for the teenager to control his emotions at times. While in the sky, Suzuki took note of this as well._

_"What's the matter with you? You're so emotionally unstable."_

_"This is a first for me too," replied Shigeo, "Maybe it's because I've been using too much power, but I just can't control myself." Stain could see it: for someone whose powers were based on his emotions, he was even more prone to be influenced by his feelings than other people. In the sky, the two started another conversation. Shigeo didn't understand how Suzuki's life could end up so empty, having no one in his life, though claimed that he was simply unlucky. The adult esper laughed, stating that there was no one in the whole world as lucky as him, but instead of disagreeing with his statement, Shigeo did something else entirely._

_"Is that so? Then it wasn't luck that you were missing: it was bonds."_

_"What did you say?"_

_"I mean that in your world, you were the only one who existed. You lived in total solitude. I know how that feels, a life of loneliness, one I want to forget." As if it wasn't crazy enough for Stain to see Shigeo showing any sense of sympathy or pity for someone like Suzuki, now tears were streaming down his face like they did before._

_"I don't understand," said Suzuki, "What is this? Why're you crying?"_

_"You might not believe me when I say it, but it's true: I really don't want to hurt you." The Hero Killer's entire body jerked back in amazement. This, THIS, was perhaps the most astounding thing Stain had seen thus far. Shigeo's heart was so large, his compassion so potent, that he was actually able to cry tears for his enemies, to view them as people in a way that no one else could, and his conviction of not wanting to hurt people made this all-the-more painful, for he knew he had to hurt Suzuki badly in order to stop his plans._

_From the ground, Shigeo proceeded to life dozens, perhaps hundreds of buildings to try and crush his opponent, to overwhelm him and ensure that he be injured beyond fighting capacity._

_"I'm sorry." The esper held his heart as he sent all of the buildings flying toward Suzuki, mashing them all together into a giant thought that the battle had ended: even someone as powerful as Suzuki couldn't survive something like this. The Hero Killer was sorely mistaken: the esper once again took advantage of the battle, landing more powerful blows and using the very ball of buildings Shigeo had created against him. What followed were unbelievably potent displays of power, leaving most of the city obliterated._

_But throughout this, Kageyama was doing nothing to fight back. What was he doing? Why was he letting himself be battered like this? Suzuki demanded that the teenager stand up and fight, but Kageyama... refused._

_"No, I'm done. It pains me to say it, but I'm just not strong enough. I don't have what it takes to show you a better path to follow in life. Sorry."_

_Stain didn't know what to think of this. To give up in such a way, it was something else he'd never expect to hear from Kageyama. Would he really let Suzuki kill him? Would he really just let this madman continue with his plans for world domination?_

_Kageyama answered that question for him with something else that Stain would've never expected to see from Shigeo after seeing all the memories of his pacifism and kindness._

_"I give up." Thee esper's eyes, the light and compassion that he'd seen in his eyes before was completely snuffed out. Instead, there was nothing but empty, darkness. Those were the eyes of a cold-blooded murderer, and with this ruthlessness ruling him now, Shigeo proceeded to twist Suzuki's body like a wet rag. "I was desperately hoping I could change, make you turn over a new leaf and become a better person, but that hope is gone."_

_"It appears - that we're both influencing -GRRAAHH- each other quite a bit!"_

_"Yes, but I failed at being a good influence on you. So that's it: at this point we both lose." Watching this young boy ready to kill his enemy, Stain felt a weight be put on his heart. Kageyama was only doing this __after trying everything to find another way, doing everything in his power to change him. This was his__ absolute last resort, because he now understood that he had to stop this man no matter cost. Kageyama knew that what he was doing was wrong, but he was making the choice that, sacrificing his innocence and morals to do what had to be done. And for Stain, to see a child have to make this kind of decision, to have to be burdened with committing murder at such a young age, it was a tragedy._

_Toichiro, however, happened to have his own final resort up his sleeve: the villain unleashed several bursts of energy, one of which caught Shigeo. For a second, it looked like Kageyama would be the one who died, but suddenly, his master's voice rang out. His eyes were changing again: the look in his eyes was changing the way it'd changed with Mogami. A smile began to creep up again on Stain's face: was it this emotion again?_

_That smile widened: yes, it was. The teenager had found his deepest conviction, the bravery he'd used to stand up and fight Mogami and his evil spirits, in his defiant stand against the evil before him. Suzuki, whose body hulked to monstrous sizes and had flame enveloping his head, proceeded to clash with the esper once again, but the Heor Killer's smile faded when he saw Kageyama quickly get overpowered. So even with this strength, it wasn't enough. It almost looked like Suzuki would finish this battle once and for all, but all of a sudden, his body began to burst. It looked as though this new form was too much for him, that he was overflowing with energy._

_Indeed, Kageyama came to this same conclusion, that the villain had released too much of the stockpiled energy at once, and now he would self-destruct. The esper fled toward his allies, warning them of the explosion that would likely destroy the entire city and urging them to flee. However, Stain wasn't sure that was the best course of plan: could they really outrun such a massive explosion? It seemed like too big a risk to take. No, the best way to ensure the city and his friends be saved was by stopping the explosion at the source._

_Shigeo followed this same line of reasoning and walked back toward his enemy at a slow pace, as if preparing himself for what needed to be done. When Kageyama returned, Stain saw Suzuki kneeling, his eyes staring at the ground as if he was in deep thought. When he looked back up at the teenager, his expression didn't change, as if he knew what was coming next._

_"You're making the right move. It's the one that has to be made: to end my life, severing the source of the energy before the explosion happens and saving the city."_

_Stain observed his face, his voice, his emotions. A person's true nature showed itself when on the verge of death, and Suzuki's nature was showing itself right now. This man may have been a selfish, murderous, sadistic, inconsiderate monster, but he was not a coward. He was ready to accept his death, the fate that was awaiting him. It was unfortunate that Kageyama had to kill him, but Stain knew that it was the only logical choice, the thing that had to be done. The Hero Killer waited for the teenager to finish this fight, make the final move, but that move never came. Stain watched Shigeo kneel down in front of him and erect a barrier around the two of them._

_"What is this? What're you doing?" said Suzuki._

_"Containing the explosion."_

_Stain's eyes narrowed in confusion: what was Shigeo thinking? Surely he could that an explosion of that size couldn't be properly contained by a single barrier, and even if it did manage to decrease the impact, he'd almost definitely die in the process. So what was this?_

_"So despite your best efforts, you haven't only failed at defeating me, but you couldn't save your friends, your family, or even yourself. How tragic. With the unbelievable power you have, this situation should have been handled much better."_

_"I may have psychic powers, but they can't solve all of my problems. But you know what? They don't have to. Because even without my powers, I still have a choice, and I control my own destiny. I get to be the protagonist, it's my life. That's the reason I came here to be by your side. Because no matter how much I dislike you, how disappointed I may be in what you've done, I can't just leave you here to suffer on your own. That would be too sad. And that's why... I'm not going anywhere. I'm here for you."_

_All the shock that Stain had experienced seeing these memories were absolutely nothing in comparison to what the Hero Killer was feeling right now. This was Shigeo's true nature: he was choosing to stay by this man's side, to be there to give him his support and comfort at a time for the man who'd nearly killed his master, destroyed his home town, cared for no one but himself. He was willing to likely die alongside this man just so he wouldn't be alone. This was an act of heroism beyond even Stain's wildest dreams. This kindness... was it even humanly possible?_

_"I thought I could reunite with her once I conquered the world, that I'd finally get to meet her again. But it turns out my way was wrong, and I noticed it too late." Suzuki's eyes moved to the ground, and his body slouched forward in shame. "Now, I don't even have the chance to apologize... __At least let me end it myself."_

_Stain's jaw dropped to the ground. It was impossible: this man regretted what he'd done. Stain knew that he had no reason to lie, no reason to hide anything at a time like this before he died, before he was ready to take his own life. In the short time that Kageyama had spent with him, this teenager had ACTUALLY managed to change someone as cruel, merciless, and self-serving as this man. He ACTUALLY did it..._

_"Then I'll give you that chance! This can't be your end!" Shigeo took Suzuki's hand, and the energy enveloping Suzuki now transferred over to Shigeo, though the overwhelming amount of energy was proving to be too much, and the teenager screamed out in pain. It seemed as though he might not make it, but he was still taking that risk. This child was now risking his life to save this villain from death._

_"If I can absorb this," yelled Shigeo, "I can save everyone!"_

_"No, it won't work! You'll die if-" Suzuki was cut off by more of Shigeo's screams._

_"You said you wanted to apologize to your wife, right? Then find her! Say it loud and clear! You have to! The same goes for me! I need to tell someone how I feel about them too!" The teenager let out a final scream, before the entire surrounding environment lit up in a bright white flash._

* * *

As the bright white flash cleared, the Hero Killer saw that he was back in the alleyway, that this was the last memory Kageyama had to show him.

For Stain, it felt as though he had spent a lifetime watching those memories. In reality, however, less than fifteen seconds had passed. The memories that Kageyama had compacted into a single ball worked by drastically speeding up the mind's processing power, allowing individuals to see such long memories in a short amount of time.

While Stain had been busy looking at his memories, the four teenagers, including Midoriya, who'd recovered from the paralysis though was still limping from the cut he'd received. They all began approaching the Hero Killer, believing Shigeo's attack to have knocked him out, but stopped when they all saw the villain begin to stir. They raised their fists, ready to finish the fight, but the esper held his hand out to stop them.

"Wait." Shigeo slowly approached the Hero Killer. He was probably still very confused by what he'd seen, possibly still trying to make sense of it all in his mind. He hadn't shown the Hero Killer the truth of how he'd been transported to this reality because doing so would reveal All Might's true form, and that still felt like something Kageyama had to keep a secret, no matter what.

The psychic student now stood less than a foot away from the Hero Killer, and the two of them looked into each others eyes. Looking into those red eyes, the esper could already see a massive change, the intense firestorm of hatred and determination in his eyes simmered down to less than a flicker. He could instantly tell that the memories he'd shown the villain had done the job Shigeo had wanted them to do.

"You see? I've only been able to become who I am thanks to the people around me, and I'm truly lucky to have had them in my life. Experiencing the cruelty of this world is what made me see that.

"The lessons they taught me and the support they gave me is what changed me, and I've been able to teach those lessons to others, give them that same support to help them change as well. Even you've changed me."

"I've never really thought about what it means to be a hero. I've always believed it to be just a title, something you carry the same way you'd carry the title of a "doctor" or "professor". But I understand now that a hero isn't just a title: it's a state of character. It's defined by the actions you take, the feelings in your heart that drive you to act. Like you said, the title of "hero" is something you earn through your actions.

"You also talked about conviction, the reason people want to be heroes. That's a question that I've been grappling with myself recently. I only chose to become a hero because other people recommended I do it, but I haven't had a reason to commit myself to being a hero. But now, the answer is clear to me: the reason for me to be a hero is so I can help people. I've been reminded just how special it is to help people, to be there in their darkest times, when they're the most lost, and how much it means to lend that hand. Now, I don't just want to be a good person: I want to be a good hero, so I can help others in the ways that others have helped me.

"It's only because of your words that I was able to realize these things. I don't know why you couldn't change anyone with your words before, but I want to try it again. Except this time," the young teenager extended his hand toward the villain, "I'll be there, to help you spread your message."

Stain could see it: the smile on his face, the look of light and compassion in Shigeo's eyes, and the hand of support being extended, they were all identical to what he'd seen with Suzuki. Even though he was a serial killer, even though he's threatened his friends, nearly sliced his arm off, this child still wanted to help him. He was the first person ever to actually value the messages he was giving, to believe that the villain's words had true meaning, and genuinely listened to what he had to say. Kageyama was acknowledging him as a human being, and wanted to help him.

For the Hero Killer, not only was this an unbelievable act of kindness and generosity, but it also served as further proof that everything he'd seen had really happened. This child had spoken with nothing but the utmost honesty and truth, and his eyes were filled with no deceit: he would not do something like creating false memories. There were still several holes in those memories, many facts that didn't add up, but it was undeniable that this had all still happened. All the trials he'd overcome were real, and all the people he had changed really did exist...

All of the other spectators felt their jaws drop open. All of them were stupefied by Shigeo's words, for none of them could comprehend what reason the teenager had to do this. But for one of them, this shock quickly morphed into something much more volatile, more hateful. Iida was looking at this display and felt as though he was going to vomit his insides. The veins in his eyes were bulging with rage, while his teeth and fists were clenching with frightening fury. Watching the esper do this, to try to help the man who had hurt his older brother, it made Iida absolutely livid.

"Kageyama, WHAT IN GOD'S NAME ARE YOU-"

"INCOMING!" From up in the air, the people saw someone rapidly approaching, preparing to land right in between the esper and the villain. The esper recognized that voice: it was Hawks! Shigeo jumped back a few meters to allow room for the number three hero to land. When he did, he momentarily lost his footing and nearly fell. "Dang it, Mob! I told you not to go after the Hero Killer yourself!"

The others had not expected the number three hero to come in like this, but what was more unexpected was the person in his arms. Tokoyami, who had barely managed to retain his consciousness, got himself out of the hero's grasp and proceeded to harshly vomit.

"Whichever one of you sent those coordinates to Tokoyami, you really saved us a lot of time. It took a little to figure out what you might have meant, but I knew it must've been important. Now all of you, take Tokoyami and get out of here! I'll fight the Hero Killer alone!" Hawks surveyed the situation, noticing the serious wounds that all of the teenagers had, as well as another hero, whose paralysis time had just ended and was getting back up. It looked as though they'd already been fighting for some time, and Stain had inflicted some pretty heavy damage. The number three hero grabbed his wings and took out two very long feathers, wielding them like swords.

"You're up against me now, Hero Killer!" Even though the winged hero was ready to take on the villain, everyone could tell that he was in absolutely no condition to fight. The entire time he'd been talking, it had been through heavy panting. They could see the heavy sweat marks under his armpits and the sweat pouring down his face, and he couldn't even seem to be able to stand straight. No, the others knew that they'd have to continue working together if they wanted to properly finish this battle. So the people in the alley, barring Shigeo, stiffened their bodies and prepared to resume the fight, but before any of them could make a move, Stain lifted his hands up and said the one thing no one in the alley would expect him to say in a million years.

"I surrender."

The tension that was building up again in preparation for another fight instantly vanished. It took everyone a few seconds to properly absorb what the Hero Killer just said. They must've misheard him, right?

"Ummmm, you wanna run that by me again?" said Hawks.

"I said I surrender. I'm allowing you to arrest me and turn me over to the authorities. You may also search me to deprive me of all my weapons. I have a blade hidden in my right sleeve, in case you miss it. I won't resist."

The number three hero was looking at the Hero Killer as if he was speaking another language. He came here expecting a big battle, a prolonged one-on-one duel where they'd engage in some sort of sword fight or something else, but here he was, giving himself over without even the slightest attempt to fight back. Perhaps more surprising, however, was the absolute dimness in this man's eyes. It was as if someone had sucked all of the life and fighting spirit out of him.

"Can one of you fill me in on what the hell is going on right now," said Hawks to the others, trying to make sense of this situation.

"We're just as lost as you are," replied Todoroki.

"Why're you doing this," said a confused Native, "Less than two minutes ago, you gave this big speech about how you were gonna continue your mission to purge "false heroes", that you were gonna reclaim the word "hero" and fight as many heroes as it took to do it! So why the hell would you suddenly just give up at the first sign of trouble, against a hero who looks like he can barely stand?"

"Because... I have seen just how weak I really am." The Hero Killer drooped his head down and spoke in a softer voice. "And I wish to spill no more blood than I already have."

"Ooookkkk then..." Hawks did not know how to respond to this, for it was too bizarre, too unexpected. After getting over how odd this situation was, the hero decided to hesitantly and cautiously search the Hero Killer, keeping his senses on high alert and using his quirk to send out floating feathers to strike Stain if he happened to make any sudden moves. But no such moves came, and the number three hero quickly disarmed him of all his weapons.

"One of you, go see if you can find some rope or something to tie him up. Tokoyami, get the police on the phone, and tell them to send an ambulance too." The avian teenager did as he asked and dialed the police, letting them know their location and their apprehension of the Hero Killer. At the same time, Todoroki found some rope lying around in a dumpster. All of them stood in silence, unable to come up with any words to speak after what they'd just seen, though Stain broke that silence.

"For so long, I thought that the only way to fix this society was by killing those who were corrupting it. I spent years honing my skills, strengthening my body to do this and eliminate the people whose souls had darkened with selfishness and greed. But I see now that the true path to a better society is not by killing those with darkness in their hearts, but by nurturing the light within."

The Hero Killer's eyes went toward Shigeo, and as they did, Hawks could see his dull eyes begin to lighten up. "It is this child who has enlightened me to this truth." Stain then began to slowly pace toward the esper: Hawks almost fired his feathers at the villain, but looking into the man's glowing eyes, he understood that there was no need.

"A child who's experienced the darkness of the world, and instead of hating the world for that darkness, chooses to view it as proof that the light is even more special. Who bears no malice or hatred towards anyone in his heart, even those who've wronged him. Whose conviction is rooted in helping others, changing them to make them better people. Who has the iron will and bravery of a hero, ready to act in the face of fear to fight for those he cares about. And yet, he possesses something... so much more."

The Hero Killer now stood directly in front of Shigeo, his red, glowing eyes baring deep into the esper's soul.

"His true nature, the very core of his being, is a gentle, pure soul with an OVERWHELMING kindness unlike anything I've ever seen." Stain placed both of his hands on the teenager's shoulders, and the esper felt himself momentarily lose his breath. The man's words, the look in his eyes, and the wide smile on his face all managing to deeply resonate with Mob.

"I choose to admit defeat by your hands because I will NEVER find anyone more worthy of being bested by."

_15%_

"Stain..."

"It is also why I have decided to pass my mission onto you. Change society: find false heroes and change them the way you've changed everyone else around you. Show them what it means to be a real hero."

"I... I can't. There're still so many more things I need to learn about being a hero, so many areas I need to improve upon. I wouldn't know how to change heroes in the way you're describing. Besides, I've still made so many mistakes that a hero shouldn't make. I'm not sure what criteria you use to judge heroes, but I don't fit it. I'm not a real hero yet."

The Hero Killer's reaction to this claim was with loud, boisterous laughter. His laughter wasn't that of a psychotic killer who took pleasure or amusement in the pain of others, but that of a hearty, jovial friend who acted as though Shigeo had just told a side-splitting joke.

"Trust me, child: you bring an entirely new definition to the word. Just continue to do what you've always done, and that will be enough.

"You are INVINCIBLE, Shigeo Kageyama."

_19%_

The Hero Killer placed his hands off of the esper and held them out toward Todoroki, waiting for him to wrap the rope around his arms. The dual quirk-wielding teenager was slow to do this, though he forced himself to recover and began to wrap the rope around the Hero Killer's wrists, while Hawks and Tokoyami came in and focused on wrapping the rope around Stain's arms. The two avian individuals were the most confounded since they hadn't seen what the esper had said and done with Stain beforehand.

Stain continued to stand immobile, the momentary light and admiration in his eyes when speaking to Kageyama having faded, and his eyes still looking down. However, the Hero Killer needed to say something, to try and do more to admit to the crimes he'd committed.

"You, Iida." The Hero Killer's eyes now went to the teenager he'd been ready to kill only a few minutes ago, and Iida tensed his body up. "I imagine this will mean nothing to you, and it can't do anything to undo the damage that's already been done, but I am truly sorry for the pain I have caused you and your family. Tell your brother as well, that I'm sorry for what I did to him."

The blue-haired teenager's mouth gaped open, and he took a step back. Normally, Iida would've growled, shaken with rage, and begin to ruthlessly pummel the Hero Killer for even thinking of trying apologize after what he'd done, forcing his friends to hold him back, but Iida was too stricken to properly react in that way.

"The same goes for all of you," Stain added, looking at the rest of the people who he'd attacked. After seeing everything he had, Stain felt as though he'd been hit with a train of shame and guilt. The memory of Shigeo's time in the mental mindscape had been the most damaging for the Hero Killer. In his eyes, Mogami served as a reflection of what Stain was going to become, or perhaps what he had already become without even realizing it, how little he started to care about innocent lives and what little boundaries he'd placed on himself. He also began to truly comprehend just how deep the pain he'd inflicted through his actions had been, the suffering he'd put so many people through, and how deep their misery was.

"I vilified this young man for doing the very thing I had allowed to happen to myself: I was consumed by hatred. To kill those with darkness in their hearts, I used the darkness in my own heart to do it. All this time, I thought that I wielded that darkness as a weapon, a blade of justice that was in my total control. But I failed to see just how much it had spread, how much it would've continued to corrupt me until my humanity had all but vanished, how "conviction" became just another word for hatred. That hatred I held for false heroes blinded me to everything else, to the truth that people could change.

"But perhaps worst of all, was that I betrayed my younger self, the young boy who aspired to be a hero like All Might, to help people and give them hope. Instead, this is who I became: a murderer ready to kill and maim even children. I did not have the inner strength that Kageyama possesses, to do that dream justice and become a good person the way I wanted to.

"For the crimes I have committed, my inability to see the goodness in the human heart, and betraying the dream I once had, I will accept my punishment." As before, everyone in the alleyway was stiff from the shock of the Hero Killer's words, the way he was able to feel sincere regret and remorse for his actions. After shaking his head to snap himself out of his disbelief, Hawks took the Hero Killer and began to guide him out of the alleyway.

"What in God's name just happened?" Tokoyami said.

"Stain changed," Shigeo replied, "That's what happened."

* * *

**That's how this ends, people! I'm sure there're gonna be people who complain about how more than half of this chapter was just retelling the story of Mob Psycho 100. I get it, and I tried my best to make it as short as I could without entirely copying all the scenes down to the dialogue, only adding important lines when I thought were necessary. I don't really expect anyone to read it word-for-word, but I still thought it was important to see Stain's thought process as he witnessed each of these memories, since they're all pretty important and they all served to teach Stain valuable lessons as well.**

**Fun fact: I've had the last scene with Stain and Mob in-mind for a long time. Actually, it was kind of part of the reason why I even started writing this story in the first place, just so I could put this scene in my mind into words, because I thought it was so cool. Well, you'll see the aftermath of this fight in Chapter 26!**


	26. Change: Part II

"Stain changed, that's what happened," Shigeo said.

The five teenagers and the other pro hero felt their legs be pinned to the ground, the bafflement of Stain's sudden change still affecting them all, but they decided to star moving and slowly paced behind Hawks and Stain. As soon as they did though, Midoriya started limping. Shigeo noticed the cut on his leg from the Hero Killer.

"Here, let me help you there." The esper lifted his finger to float his friend into the air.

"Thanks," Midoriya said with a voice not much louder than a whisper. As they were walking, none of them were really sure what to say to one another, how any normal conversation could take place now. After several more seconds of silence, Midoriya decided to talk about something more random and trivial.

"I didn't know you and Hawks were coming too, Tokoyami," said Izuku, "Well actually, it wouldn't really make sense for Kageyama to just come here all by himself."

"Yes, we were all coming here to Hosu City to try and help Iida," he replied, "When Kageyama heard about the Hero Killer and where he'd look for his next target, he immediately pieced together that you would go after him yourself, Iida. You should've seen how worried he was."

The spectacled teenager gave a glance toward his psychic friend and felt his heart squeeze. "And then when Hawks called Manual's office and heard of creatures attacking the city that sounded like Nomu, he burst ahead with tremendous speed."

"Hawks' agency must be more than a thousand kilometers away," Todoroki said, "How long did it take you to get here?"

"A little less than two minutes."

Another round of shock spread through the group, one of many they had all experienced that night. "You were able to get here in less than two minutes?" Native interjected.

"Yea, but you saw how it drained my energy and left myself open to attack," Shigeo said. After this short conversation, they all made it to the clearing of the alleyway.

"What're you doing here, boy?" Everyone turned their heads to find a short, elderly man approaching from another narrow alleyway. The green-haired student was just about to start explaining things, but with impressive speed, the man blitzed forward and kicked Midoriya in the face. "I thought I told you to stay on the bullet train!"

"You're Gran Torino, correct," Shigeo said, assuming this based on this man's old age and the fact that he kicked his friend in the face.

"Yep, this is him. I don't get it, how did you know where to find us?"

"I was told to come here by someone else." Gran Torino took a look at the man bound in ropes, as well as the other injured teenagers and the injured hero. "I'm not sure what's going on here, though I'm glad that you're not dead at least."

"Me too, and I'm sorry," the teenager replied with his head lowering in respect and shame.

The elderly hero scoffed to himself, thinking of how much this side of Midoriya reminded him of All Might, before directing his attention to the esper. He was surprised that this child knew about him, considering he wasn't a well-known hero and had very little publicity. But before he could ask this child how he knew the hero, several more heroes came sprinting down the street.

"Endeavor told us there was a request for help here, but..."

"Those injuries look bad." One of the heroes looked to the right and noticed the Hero Killer tied up, with the number three hero beside him. "Hawks? You're here in Hosu City, and you caught the Hero Killer."

"Well..." The winged hero rubbed the back of his head, unsure of how to explain what had really happened. Stain had completely ignored the arrival of these heroes. After having said everything he'd needed to say, he was now wallowing in total shame and guilt while thinking of the kind of person he could've become if he'd followed a path in life like Mob had done.

"I'll get the police on the line," one of the other heroes said.

"Don't bother. They're already on their way, along with an ambulance for the injured," replied Hawks. Seeing that the number three hero had things taken care of, the heroes who'd arrived just stood there in silence, waiting for the police like everyone else was. While this was happening, Shigeo asked his friend if he could still walk with his injury and if he wanted to be put back down on the ground. Izuku agreed and stood on both his two feet. It seemed as though things were finally starting to calm down, that the hectic night was finally over. But then...

Coming down from the sky in an erratic pattern, the flying Nomu that had been part of the League of Villain was rapidly approaching the heroes.

"Get down!" Gran Torino warned, trying to ensure that the other heroes not get attacked. However, that warning was relatively pointless, because the bowl-haired teenager quickly took action and proceeded to paralyze the Nomu with his psychic powers. Hawks, nimble as he was, also leapt into action, using the little strength and stamina he had left to fly up and finish off the Nomu. He hovered just above the winged monster and slammed it down to the ground as hard as he could. As he did, he took out two of his feather blades like he did when preparing to fight Stain and stabbed both of them down into the Nomu's brain.

Many of the spectating heroes were in awe at the way that he'd taken this abomination down so easily when they'd barely held their own against it. This was no news to Shigeo or Fumikage, who had both seen Hawks' abilities for themselves and knew that even the speed he displayed was nowhere near his top speed. The hero quickly stumbled and took a moment to regain his footing, looking down at the dead creature with a neutral, if not slightly dim expression.

"My body's still exhausted," said Hawks, looking up at the psychic intern, "Mob, if you hadn't used your quirk to stop this guy, I probably wouldn't have been fast enough to react to it. Good job."

The esper simply nodded his head as a thanks, feeling slightly unnerved by the way Hawks took out the creature, though rationalizing that the Nomu weren't real people: they were just dolls, artificial monstrosities.

"Why're you all standing there like fools?" Coming in from another alleyway after a short yet intense battle with the black Nomu, Endeavor was following the trail of the flying Nomu and ready to finish it off. "The villain must have-"

The number two hero's sentence faltered when he saw the hero directly below him in rank standing on top of the deceased winged Nomu. "Hawks. What're you doing here in Hosu City?"

"Yo, Endeavor," Hawks replied with a much more relaxed and casual tone of voice, "I was just coming to this city to catch the Hero Killer. Check it." The number three hero pointed to his left, and Endeavor gasped. A man was bound in ropes standing alongside the heroes he'd sent to this location and several familiar faces, one of whom was Kageyama.

"Is that the Hero Killer?" The flaming hero growled to himself and felt the vein in his forehead throb. So Hawks had beat him to the punch and apprehended the Hero Killer himself.

Suddenly, all the people in the area heard the sounds of sirens rapidly approaching. Endeavor saw several police cars and an ambulance coming in from behind him and jumped out of the way to let them move. The police cars then stopped in front of the group of heroes, while some of the others stopped in front of the deceased Nomu, while the ambulance rested in the middle of these police cars. The police officers rapidly got themselves out of the car while the paramedics opened the back of the ambulance.

"It's the Hero Killer!" a police officer said, "Which one of you made the call."

"It was my intern, Tokoyami." The blonde hero paced over to the police officers while pointing to the avian student. "I'll fill you in on what happened.

"All you guys, get in the ambulance. Tokoyami, you can go with them. I need to go to the police station and fill the police officers in on what happened. Once I'm done with that, I'll come get you."

"Understood." The injured group made their way into the ambulance, with the paramedics helping them into the back, while the police officers guided the silent and lifeless Hero Killer into one of the cars. When everyone got into the ambulance, some of the paramedics started to treat the blood wounds. But as they were doing this, the spectacled teenager began to feel the grief and guilt of his actions rapidly manifest itself, and he could hold it in. He looked to his friends who had fought alongside them and respectfully bowed his head.

"You guys. You were all hurt because of me. I'm truly sorry." The tears began to pool in the teenager's eyes, while his voice started to shake. "I was just so angry, I couldn't... see anything else."

The green-haired teenager's expression softened, while the esper's head bowed down. "I'm sorry too, Iida," replied Midoriya, "Just like Kageyama said before, you had to deal with all this anger by yourself, and I couldn't even tell it was bothering you, even though I'm your friend."

The tears flowed down the teenager's cheeks and dripped onto the ground, the sadness and despair intensifying.

"Come on. Pull yourself together," said Todoroki, "You're the class rep."

"Right." The spectacled teenager wiped his eyes and tried to get a hold of his emotions. Sitting adjacent to him, the esper placed his arm around his friend as a means to console him, but the fatigue from using his powers excessively started to build up all at once, and he felt his body go limp. Iida's front body jerked back up to allow Shigeo's body to collapse on his lap.

"Kageyama. What's wrong?" Tokoyami said.

"Sorry," replied the esper with a low voice and droopy eyes, "It's just that if I use too much of my power, I get really sleepy, and I already pushed my power past its limit when fighting Stain. I think I'll just..." Shigeo droned off, and he slowly shut his eyes as he allowed himself to slip into unconsciousness. Iida decided to let his friend rest on his lap, while Midoriya's lips curved upward. The battle with Stain that had seemed like it lasted for a lifetime had finally come to an end, and now Kageyama could rest.

* * *

The next day had come, and the four friends were all resting in their hospital beds in Hosu General Hospital. Tokoyami had stayed with them as he'd been told to, but Hawks eventually grabbed him and took him to a nearby hotel to spend the night there. All of their wounds had been treated, and each of the students were wrapped in bandages. The friends were now sitting next to each other, having all woken up. Actually, most of them had been wide awake for much of the night, their minds still racing and processing everything that had happened the night before, the only exception being Kageyama, who slept because of pure exhaustion.

"Did you sleep, Midoriya," said Todoroki.

"Not really."

"It figures. I couldn't get much sleep either."

The green-haired teenager craned his head up toward the ceiling, replaying the memory of the night before in his mind. "Thinking about that fight now, I still can't believe how it ended. To think that the Hero Killer was able to change so quickly, to have his entire mindset shifted like that, to give up after he was so determined to kill Iida and the other pro and abandon his mission."

"Yea..." muttered the dual quirk-wielding teenager. As the two teenagers spoke to one another, Shigeo and Tenya sat quietly, but the esper gazed over and saw his friend's eyes focused on the ground, his body lightly trembling.

While the others had tossed and turned in their beds due to the shock of last night's surprise surrender, Iida had stayed awake due to a growing feeling of anger. Even though his desire for vengeance against the Hero Killer had faded from his heart, his hatred against him did not. Because of that hatred, Iida had still not come to terms with Stain's apology or decision to surrender, but perhaps more importantly, he still felt tremendous anger for the way that Shigeo had spoken to Stain.

"I still don't understand, Kageyama." The other two friends turned their heads toward Iida, and took note of the rising anger, the features of fury being etched onto his face. The spectacled teenager looked at his psychic friend, who shifted back in unease. "Why did you try to reason with the Hero Killer at all? Why did you talk to him the way that you did?" Iida's hands clenched into fists, and his eyes sharpened with animosity.

"WHY would you actually offer him a hand of support, to a murderer like him?" Shigeo could see the fire burning deep in Iida's eyes. In response to this, the esper let out a soft sigh and averted his gaze from Iida.

"Because at that moment, I wasn't thinking of him as a murderer. Instead, I thought of him as a person who was trying to change society, who had an important message to convey, but who had no one to listen to that message.

"You have a right to hate Stain for what he did." Iida loosened his clenched fists, and his eyes began to simmer down. "He still killed people, and he still crippled Ingenium, an amazing person who you love and admire. Like he said, apologizing doesn't change that." Mob's eyes were now pointed in between his legs.

"I have a brother, too. If Stain did that to Ritsu..."

The esper imagined his brother lying on the ground in a pool of blood, then watching him hooked up to life support in a hospital bed. The image of this caused Shigeo's entire body to shake up. "Just thinking about it sends shivers down my spine. If Stain hurt my little brother like that, I'd probably hate him just as much as you do, probably even more."

The spectacled teenager's eyes went back to normal, now actually looking on in concern. This reminded him of what Kageyama had said shortly after he'd arrived at the fight, something that seemed to have truly haunted his friend.

"Kageyama, I realized that you've never talked about your family with any of us before. Are they all ok? Are they all..." Iida hesitated to finish this next sentence, for he knew how unbelievably hard it must've been to ask.

"Are they all alive?"

"Oh." Kageyama momentarily struggled to answer that question, "Yea, my family's perfectly fine." Judging by his face, Iida felt as though this wasn't true, that something had indeed happened to his family that he wasn't telling them. Midoriya knew that explaining this would be complicated, but he likewise had no knowledge of the event Kageyama was talking about beforehand.

Todoroki curved his eyebrow up in confusion. "What kind of question is that? What brought that up?"

"You weren't there to listen to this part, but Kageyama spoke of his own moment with anger. He said how one time, he had found his house burned to the ground, and inside it... his family was burned along with it." The dual quirk-wielding teenager's eyes opened up, and he peered over at the psychic student. "He said that the fire building up inside him was so blistering hot that... he felt he was ready to cover the entire world with it."

Shoto gasped, while Shigeo lowered his head in shame and pain. His family had been burned alive? But Kageyama was claiming that they were all perfectly fine, so what really happened then? The teenager was about to inquire about this, find out what that was about, but before he could, the door to their room opened, and in came most of the heroes the students were interning with. The only one who wasn't here was Endeavor, who was still at the police station and giving the police more details about the Nomu that had attacked the city.

"Looks like you youngins are finally awake," said Gran Torino.

"Gran Torino."

"Hey-yo." Among the heroes entering the room was Hawks, who had decided to bring Tokoyami along since he'd been there to see Stain surrender and because he also wanted to see how his friends were doing.

"Hawks, Tokoyami..."

"Idiot!" The elderly teenager waved his cane at his intern, "I could yell at you for hours, but before I do, you have a visitor."

The last one to enter the room was a very tall man with a suit consisting of a dress shirt, waistcoat, and a black blazer, all of which seemed perfectly normal, but as it happened, this man had the head of a beagle, possessing a mutant-type quirk which gave him the appearance of a canine. "This is the Chief of Police, Kenji Tsuragamae."

All of the students immediately stood up in respect, but the police chief put his hand out. "Please, don't worry. You can remain seated. So you're the four who fought the Hero Killer.

"There's a lesson you should've already learned: when quirks became the norm, the police force sought to maintain the status quo. They decided that quirks wouldn't be used as weapons. That's when heroes came in: they could do what they couldn't if they had the proper licenses. It would be impossible for the police to condone the use of deadly quirks. After all, we're here to stop such harm from being done. The only reason heroes are able to use their quirks now is due to the strict code of ethics put in place. That's why it's against the law for uncertified individuals to use their quirks to cause injury. Whether you were up against the Hero Killer or not, none of you had the authority to harm the villain. This means that the four of you and your supervisors, Endeavor, Manual, Gran Torino, and Hawks, should receive proper punishment."

Shigeo, Izuku, and Tenya were all grasping the severity of their actions and began to feel gravely concerned for how it would affect the heroes they interned with, but Shoto was growing hostile at the way the police chief was completely ignoring the good they did by using their quirks. "Now wait a minute. If Iida hadn't stepped in, Native would've been murdered. And if not for Midoriya and Kageyama, both of them would've been killed. Are you saying that would've been preferable?"

"So you're saying it's ok to break the law as long as it goes your way? This is why you aren't licensed pros yet: it's obvious that Endeavor hasn't been teaching you near enough." The dual quirk-wielding teenager's entire body tensed up, and he bared his teeth at the police chief.

"You damn mutt!"

"Wait, listen he's right!" said Iida. But before Todoroki could make any rash actions, the elderly hero got in front of him and held his hand out.

"Stop there, kid. You'll wanna hear him out until the end."

"This is the official stance of the police department," the police chief continued, "But any punishment would only be applicable if this went public. However, we could say that Hawks saved the day and apprehended the Hero Killer singlehandedly, woof."

The canine's eyes wandered out into an empty space, contemplating his thoughts. "There are times that the truth is stranger than fiction, and this is one of those times. Even if the truth came out, I doubt many people would believe it, woof. I've heard the truth myself, and part of me still doesn't believe it."

The police chief's eyes now went to the esper. "Shigeo Kageyama. You're the one, correct? The one who changed the Hero Killer, woof?"

The other two heroes, Gran Torino and Manual, were puzzled by the police chief's statement, for they hadn't been informed of all the details regarding Stain's arrest.

"Hold on. What d'you mean by "changed" the Hero Killer," Gran Torino asked.

"Hawks told me everything that happened, woof. As soon as he arrived, the Hero Killer immediately surrendered, even though Hawks was exhausted and could've been an easy target to be killed. He spoke about passing his mission to change society onto you, while also apologizing for hurting all of you, expressing sincere remorse for all his crimes and the people he killed, woof."

"Huh?" The other two heroes were completely floored by this revelation, both of them taking a step back and staring at Shigeo with gaping mouthes the same way everyone else had done when they saw Stain surrender and speak to Kageyama. "You can't be serious."

"Swear to god, old timer," said Hawks, "I saw it all happen in front of me. Stain just completely gave up." The number three hero took a step forward his psychic intern, his expression becoming more dramatic.

"Mob, I gotta know: what the hell did you do? Native said how Stain gave some sort of speech about two minutes before I got there, where he talked about reclaiming the word "hero" and that he'd fight however many heroes to do it. From what it sounded, this guy was gonna keep on fighting 'till his last breath. So how, HOW, were you able to get him to completely abandon his mission, to suck all the fighting spirit out of him, in the span of TWO MINUTES?"

The esper felt every pair of eyes in the room lock onto him, a nervous bead of sweat falling down his face. "...Stain was convinced that the only way to fix this society was by killing the people he thought were evil. I just showed him that there was a better way to improve society: by changing people. I helped him to see that people are able to change themselves: I showed him the ways that I had changed, the ways that I had changed others. And he chose to accept it. He chose to believe in a person's ability to become better, and it was through understanding this that Stain was able to change."

"But in just two minutes..." muttered Hawks.

"Indeed, this is quite an unimaginable, seemingly impossible feat, woof. Even if this was revealed, how would one go about explaining it? "A young boy talked to the villain and magically convinced him that killing heroes was wrong after one conversation." That sounds like something out of a fairy tale, woof. Even if we get a confession from Stain now, most people will likely be convinced that it's some sort of attempt by the police or Hero Public Safety Commission to ease panic or decrease his popularity, which has been steadily on the rise for the past week ever since..." The police chief did not want to finish the sentence and remind Iida of the injuries his brother had sustained.

"If video proof of his sudden change were shown, then that would change things, and if this went public, you'd probably be praised by astounded citizens for doing something so unbelievable while diminishing the influence the Hero Killer has begun to spread, even if you'd be reprimanded for using your quirks illegally. However, the other option would be to say that Hawks saved the day and defeated the Hero Killer by himself. This would mean that no one would be aware of your actions and what you did that night, and you would receive no praise."

"It's a total crap move, I know," Hawks said while shaking his head and running his hand through his hair, "I don't deserve any credit for it, especially since all of you were able to fend off against the Hero Killer by yourselves. All of you, not just Mob, really pulled your weight out there last night."

"Personally I know where I stand," the police chief said, giving them all a thumbs up, "I don't want to damage any promising young careers."

After shaking his head to get over the shock of Stain's surrender, Manual's head drooped down while a comedic tear formed in his eye. "Either way, we'll need to take responsibility for being negligent supervisors."

Iida approached the hero and respectfully bowed. "I'm sorry. I caused you trouble."

Manual lightly chopped the teenager's head. "Yea, you caused us a lot of trouble. Remember that, and don't do it again."

The other teenagers followed Iida's lead and bowed toward the heroes, except for Tokoyami, who felt rather out-of-place here and didn't know what to say in this scenario.

"I know it's not fair. None of you will receive the credit and praise you deserve." The police chief mimicked the teenager's own movements and bowed for all of them. "But allow me, as the Chief of Police, to thank you."

"You know, you could've started with that," said Todoroki while awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. Shigeo and Izuku both looked at the dual quirk-wielding friend with shaky smiles, relieved to know that despite having broken the law and going against the wishes of the heroes they were interning with, they were still being praised for their actions, for the way they'd stood tall and chosen to both defend others and the way that Shigeo had changed Stain. In the end, it looked like everything had worked well for them after all.

* * *

It was now the afternoon. Midoriya and Todoroki decided to head off to the cafeteria to get some food; Kageyama followed shortly after since the doctors wanted to treat the deep gash on his right arm from Stain's attack, while Iida was having tests performed on his arms due to the horrendous damage inflicted upon them by Stain. While Todoroki and Midoriya were walking, the fanboy told him to not inquire more about the incident Mob had spoken of because it was very hard for Mob to recount it, ensuring that Shigeo's secret not be leaked in any way.

The two friends were now sitting next to each other in an isolated table, while the esper was still waiting in line to get his food. But as he was waiting in line, Kageyama was greeted by someone cutting into the line, someone who he hadn't expected to see here.

The people waiting in line with Kageyama all took a step back, immediately recognizing the number two hero and feeling his strong presence.

"Endeavor?"

"Kageyama..." The number two hero felt somewhat awkward at that moment, unsure of how to go about things. After he'd finished informing the police of the Nomus he'd fought and telling the sidekicks of his agency of his venture to Hosu City, the number two hero decided to return to the hospital to visit his son before going back to his agency. However, before that, he noticed Shigeo standing in this line and decided to approach him first. "If it is alright with you, I would like to talk with you in private."

"Sure thing." The psychic saw no problem with the hero's proposition, for he still had many things he wanted to say to Endeavor. The flame hero nodded, and Mob decided to follow right behind him.

Mob's two friends noticed Endeavor and Shigeo walking together, and both of them exchanged confused looks with one another. "Where is my father going with Kageyama?" Todoroki said.

"I have no idea," replied Midoriya, "What could he possibly want with him?"

"I don't know..." Todoroki paused for a split-second before making a suggestion. "I want to follow them, see what my father has to say to Kageyama."

"Me too. Whatever Endeavor has to say to Kageyama, it must be important, and I feel it's something we need to hear about for ourselves." Midoriya was equally curious about this and didn't really think too much about privacy. Todoroki didn't mind his friend tagging along to listen in, so they got out of their seats and kept a good distance away from Endeavor and Shigeo while tailing them from behind.

While the number two hero was walking, he was having a small internal battle with himself. What was he doing? Why did it matter so much to him to talk to this child, to ask him the questions that were most prevalent in his mind, especially after the way that he had insulted Endeavor as a father? Though he didn't realize it himself, Endeavor had actually grown to respect this child not just for his power, but for having the stomach to so openly confront him and tell him the ways he was letting Shoto down. Eventually, the number two hero and the psychic teenager made their way into an isolated hallway with only a few doors and a single bench. Shoto and Izuku hid in the corner of this hallway; they also grabbed two nearby chairs to make themselves less suspicious.

The hero and the esper stood in front of one another, and Mob couldn't help feeling slightly put-off and intimidated by Endeavor's silence and general aura. "You said before at the Sports Festival that you wanted to resume our conversation, so that's what I brought you here for.

"Before we pick up where we left off, there is something that I must know, a question that has been bothering me this entire week: why did you surrender at the Sports Festival?" The esper's eyes widened slightly, not having expected this question to be brought up. He didn't understand just how much his decision stood contradictory to everything Endeavor knew and had worked for his entire life. "In the final match, you had the advantage over my son. Despite using both sides to their fullest, he was unable to get the edge over you, and your strength and speed far exceeded his. You could've blown him out of the ring easily, but you didn't, and I don't understand why. You could've taken the number one spot, proven to the entire world that you were the strongest, that you were undoubtedly the best student there."

""Being the number one, being the strongest, proving you're the best, surpassing everyone else." That's what I hear from everyone these days, as if that's the only way to show that you're worth something, that it's the only way for you to be proud of yourself. Is that the reason why you're doing this, training your son so hard and putting in all this effort to become the number one hero? Because you think that being the strongest is the only way for your life to have any meaning?"

The bowl-haired teenager placed his hand on his chest. "I don't need to be the number one hero to know who I am. I don't need to be the strongest to give my life meaning. Even when I was just living the life of a regular middle schooler, with no big dreams or ambitions, I was still happy with myself, and my life had meaning because I had my friends and family with me, the people around me to be there by my side and give me support. At U.A. High, I've been able to find new meaning and happiness in my life, and it hasn't been because of how amazing of a school it is or how great the hero course is: it's been because of my classmates who I've helped.

"Take your son, for instance. I was able to be there to help him through some of his internal conflict, and through that support, I can see the ways he's changed, how he's begun to open himself up to others. For me, knowing that I helped him to open his walls and understand the value of bonds, to enjoy the company of the people around you, that's given my life meaning.

"And then there's a new club I've formed, the Body Improvement Club, a club which your son also happens to be a part of. It's comprised of a lot of my classmates and a few students from other classes, and we're all working together. We're all pushing our bodies while being there to support one another and help us all improve ourselves." The esper smiled warmly, fondly remembering the past memories of the Body Improvement Club and the new memories of the Body Improvement Club. "Seeing the way the club is bringing us all closer together, looking at the smiles on their faces as we run and lift weights, it puts a smile on my own face. For me, helping others is what gives my life meaning, and it's what should give all our lives meaning.

"Besides, being the strongest never helped with what mattered most to me, and it certainly hasn't helped with what should matter most to you." The hero's eyebrows lifted upward, with the eavesdropping teenagers doing the same. "Let's say that the day finally does come where you become the number one hero; by some chance, you become even stronger than All Might. When that day comes, tell me: who's going to be there to celebrate your achievement?"

Endeavor's head jerked back while he let out a small gasp. "In your quest to become the number one hero, you've completely forsaken everything else. You've put the rest of your family aside, ignored all of their wants and their needs, and put your youngest son through terrible training without thinking about what he wants with his life. You've made it so that when the time comes that you'll need them by your side, and you WILL need them one day, they won't be there. You might not have realized this, but right now, you're alone."

The esper's head went down slightly, recalling his own moments of solitude in his life. "Being alone is a really sad, painful feeling, one that I'm all-too-familiar with." The atmosphere around them quickly became sour, but Mob quickly brought the energy back up and tried to end this conversation on a more positive note, looking back up at Endeavor with a brighter expression.

"But I still think there's something you can do: all these years, you've had this undying determination to be the number one hero by being the strongest hero you can possibly be. If you can put the same amount of effort and determination you do in being a good hero and transfer that into being a good father, then I'm sure you'll be able to do great things for your family. Who knows: with enough time, you might even take the title of number one father. That's my advice, at least, and hopefully you'll take it."

Having said everything he needed to say, Kageyama decided to walk through the hallway, the opposite end from where he'd come from, but not before giving Endeavor one final smile and a positive comment. "I'm glad we had the chance to talk again."

With that, the esper left the number two hero to stew on everything that'd been discussed. As Endeavor watched Shigeo walk away, he felt too hard-hit by everything that had just been thrown at him and sat down on the single bench in the hallway. Midoriya and Todoroki, on the other hand, knew they had to make it back to the lunch table before Kageyama noticed they were missing, so they went as fast as they could. Thankfully, they both made it to the tables before Kageyama could notice them. The esper got back into the lunch line, which had shortened significantly, allowing him to get his lunch tray and sit at his friends' table. As he sat down with his two friends, he immediately noticed a different expression on Todoroki's face.

"Todoroki, what is it?" Mob asked.

"You know, Kageyama, I realized that I've never formally apologized to you for the way I treated you before, or properly thanked you for being there to help me." The teenager let out a soft sigh of shame and momentarily averted his eyes away from Shigeo.

"I really am sorry for the way I treated you, the way I kept on refusing your attempts to form a friendship with me. I was just too focused on rejecting that bastard for me to accept your kindness." Then, Shoto's lips curved upward again, something which was especially rare for him, while his eyes began to glow with an even rarer luminescence.

"And thank you, for choosing to speak to me and be there by my side in spite of the way I challenged you and treated you so coldly. You too, Midoriya." The green-haired teenager lightly gasped when Shoto looked at him with those same compassionate eyes. "You also helped open my eyes to important truths, about who I could become and how using my left side didn't mean following my father's path."

Shigeo and Izuku exchanged some nominally shocked looks before their faces split into wide smiles as well. The bonds of friendship that held these three together had only deepened, and Shigeo's compassion is what deepened it. Working together, they would continue to support one another and become better heroes.

* * *

The three friends had a good, hearty meal with one another which was more enjoyable and lively thanks to Todoroki's momentarily brightened mood, and they all returned to their hospital beds. When they entered the room, they found Iida sitting alone in his bed, with a neutral expression across his face..

"Hey Iida, how'd everything go with the doctors?" Mob asked.

"I got the test results back from the doctors."

"And...?" Midoriya inquired.

"My left hand... may have damage that's permanent." The pupils in all the teenager's eyes dilated, and they all took in sharp gasps.

"Permanent?" said Mob.

Iida gave a more in-depth explanation of his injuries. "Both my arms were pretty torn up, but the damage to my left arm was especially severe. The damage was to my brachial plexus, which means I'll have trouble moving my fingers, and my hands might feel some numbness. Apparently, there's a chance it can be healed with nerve transplant surgery."

The teenager looked down upon his injuries, reflecting on the actions he'd taken the night before. "When I came across the Hero Killer, I stopped thinking rationally. The first thing I should've done was call Manual, but I got lost in my own anger."

Stain's words echoed in his mind. "I hate him so much, but I can't deny he spoke the truth, which is why until I'm able to call myself a real hero, I'll leave my left hand as it is.

"Are you sure?" asked Todoroki. Similarly, both Mob and Izuku were feeling some great doubt over Iida's decision. Both of them felt like they took some responsibility for how things turned out: if they'd been there for him to help him through those emotions, things wouldn't have turned out like this. But they ignored those self-pitying doubts: this was Iida's decision, not theirs. Besides, this damage wasn't permanent, so they both knew that one day, he would be back to normal.

"I feel the same way." Midoriya looked down at his own scarred hand, since it was a reminder for him as well, and held it out in the form of a fist. "Let's get stronger, together." The two acknowledged the resolve in each of their eyes and nodded in agreement. While this was happening, Todoroki's face began to pour with sweat, coming to a rather bizarre conclusion based on what had happened.

"I feel... kind of bad," he said while staring at his hand the same way Iida had a moment ago, "Every time I'm involved, someone's hand gets all messed up. Is something wrong with me? Am I cursed?"

Tenya and Izuku both widened their eyes before breaking out in laughter. Shigeo, on the other hand, due to his rather emotionless nature and his inability to properly laugh, didn't partake in this boisterous howling and tried to take Shoto's suggestion more seriously. "My hand isn't messed up, and you've interacted with me a lot before."

While this might have killed the mood for Izuku and Tenya, Shoto's serious nature found the esper's reaction to be more appropriate and supportive. "Yea, I guess you've got a point there."

Izuku and Tenya looked at one another and let out comedic sighs. Sometimes, those two were too dense for their own good.

* * *

The number two hero was left in a very emotionally traumatized and deeply affected state from what Shigeo had said to him. After sitting on the bench for about ten to fifteen minutes, Endeavor decided to find his son and say farewell before going back to his agency. The entire drive back, Endeavor had barely said a word, and upon arriving at his hero agency, all of his sidekicks could tell that something was off about him, the fierce and determined look in his eyes completely absent and the flames that usually surrounded him as a means of power and intimidation having been snuffed out.

The hero was now sitting in his office by himself, staring emptily at the ceiling while he continued to digest everything that Shigeo had said. Endeavor's whole life had revolved around becoming stronger, increasing the power of his quirk and doing as much as he could to ensure that he take the number one spot away from All Might. He believed that this was what separated the worthy from the worthless, the thing that would undeniably prove his strength to the world, the thing that every person would strive to achieve but fail at achieving. He wanted to take that number one spot to prove himself...

But Shigeo Kageyama had no such dream, no such desire to prove himself. Even though he had an unbelievably powerful quirk that already put him on All Might's level at such a young age, the idea of taking the number one spot had never occurred to him. If Endeavor had such an amazingly powerful quirk, he would've done whatever he could to increase that power, to make sure that it stood far above every other hero in the world. For Kageyama, what he instead tried to focus on was interacting with the people around him, being there to support those people when they needed him and create fond memories with them. He'd already done that with several of his classmates and been there to help his son with problems Endeavor never even knew he had. Not only that, but Shigeo acted as if Shoto's happiness were his own happiness, an idea that had never once crossed the hero's mind.

Endeavor's teeth mashed together, and shot forward from his inclined position, slamming his desk hard enough to fracture it into several pieces. Did that mean everything Endeavor had ever done to become the number one hero was wrong? That couldn't be true: he'd learned how to become an efficient and diligent hero, having saved thousands upon thousands of lives over the many decades he worked as a hero. He had the record for most resolved criminal cases in history, far exceeding that of All Might. He'd done so much for the country on his quest to become the number one hero! That counted for something!

Alas, the number two hero could not escape the fact that he had almost never bothered to learn anything about his family or support them in any way. For so many years, he'd devoted himself solely to training Shoto, honing him into a hero that could surpass All Might, and had not paid attention to his development as a person in the slightest. Hell, Kageyama had been there for Shoto more than Endeavor had. Not only that, but he'd put Rei in a mental hospital, where she'd stayed for ten years, and the hero had completely blocked her from his mind, too focused on his mission to think of her. But... but it was all done for the sake of his goal! They were all necessary sacrifices to ensure he become the number one hero! That was all that mattered... right?

Endeavor clasped his head with both of his hands, aggressively running them through his hair. These questions were changing his views everything he'd focused his life on, uprooting all the ideals and principles he'd worked towards, and the hero had no answers to any of these questions! He didn't know what to do with these building emotions, how to deal with this rising confusion! There had to be someone here, someone who he could talk to in order to help him through this!

And that was when it hit him, the truth that he'd ignored for so many years, the reality that Kageyama had spelled out for him: he had no one. There was not a single person he'd ever actually talked with on a deeper level, no one who he could count on to express his inner thoughts and feelings towards, who he himself knew on a deeper level. He'd been so driven by his goal, he'd never thought of anything else.

The gravity of this truth sent a very deep, freezing chill throughout his entire body that his maximum firepower could never hope to heat. The pain of this loneliness was just as terrible as Shigeo described it to be, creating a dark, empty pit in his soul. The number two hero slumped back into his chair and placed a hand over his eye, truly comprehending the heinousness of all his actions as his eyes were opened to the truth.

"What have I done..."

* * *

A lot happened in the days that followed. The Hero Killer's arrest in Hosu City only brought more attention to his name, especially since the number three hero himself had apparently been responsible for his detainment. Because of that, the video of Stain's victory and speech against Ingenium continued to grow in popularity. In fact, there had actually been a few recordings of Stain's speeches that had been posted online several years ago, with only a few thousand views. But eager fans of Stain had found those speeches, and within hours, those videos racked up millions of views. The websites tried to remove those videos, but no matter what, people kept on reposting them. Had Stain known his actions would've left such an impact on the world, he would've made more of an effort to ensure that the world knew of his changed nature and how he now rejected the ideology he'd based his life upon.

Meanwhile, at the Hosu City Hospital, Iida had been sent home to his family the same day the results of his tests had been given to him. The day after that, Shoto also decided to return to his father's agency, resolute in his decision to learn as much as he could from his father. However, the dual quirk-wielding teenager wondered what kind of an impact Shigeo's words had left on him. Shoto was sure that his father wouldn't completely change himself after that one conversation, but he still felt that it may have led him on a different direction at the very least.

When he returned to his father's agency at around 12:30 in the afternoon, he was greeted by one of his more energetic sidekicks, Burnin'. Befitting her name, she had long, flaming-green hair and a fiery personality with brimming enthusiasm

"Hey Shoto, Endeavor wants to see you alone in his office," she said.

"He does? What for?"

"Dunno. It's funny, though: he's been acting really weird ever since he came back from Hosu. He actually broke his desk apart!" Todoroki's eyebrows perched up, and his mouth opened with mild astonishment. It's prolly because he didn't get the Hero Killer himself. Anyway, you better get to it. You know how much he hates having to wait!"

The teenager nodded and headed for his father's office at a faster, more brisk pace. Though Burnin suspected this new attitude to have stemmed from failing to apprehend Stain, Shoto knew that it had more than likely been Kageyama's words which had brought about this behavior. But what did it mean? How deeply had Kageyama's words affected his father? Surely they hadn't completely changed his attitude... right? That question seemed somewhat ridiculous to ask, considering how he'd seen a serial killer have a change of heart through a single interaction right before his eyes, but still, Shoto knew his father better than anyone else, as much as he hated to admit it. The bastard had a singular goal he'd spent his entire life chasing, and Shoto felt his father wouldn't suddenly abandon that goal now...

Shoto opened the door to his father's office, and found him sitting at his desk by himself, staring at it in an empty haze. Endeavor was snapped out of this haze by the sound of the door.

"Shoto. I've been waiting for you. Come, take a seat." The teenager slowly walked toward the desk, and as he did, he noticed some food sitting on both ends of the desk. When he got to his chair, he realized that it was cold Soba.

"Since I'm assuming you didn't have lunch on the way here, I thought we could eat together. This is your favorite food, is it not?" The teenager was amazed by the fact his father knew this, that he'd bothered to pay attention to this detail. After spending so many days training his son, teaching him everything he knew while eating alone with him, he'd picked up these little facts along the way.

Shoto silently and hesitantly took a seat at the desk, and the number two hero proceeded to dig in. The intern took his cue and took the chopsticks that were beside the bowl of Soba. As they were eating, the teenager never took his eyes off of his father. This was so bizarre: not only to bother having some one-on-one time together like this without any actual training, but the look in his eyes as well. The fierce, burning passion that had become his trademark look vanished; instead, his eyes were softer, like the flame of a hearth. Never, in his life, had Shoto ever seen his father with such eyes. Endeavor broke the silence, but when he spoke, his tone was laced with a softness and tranquility that his son had also never seen from him before.

"I want you to know how proud I am of you, son, of how much you've grown and developed," he said, "Because of that, I swear I'll become someone you can be proud of too, as the man you call "father"."

The teenager's eyes bulged to tremendous sizes, and the shock of this was grand enough that he choked on the Soba he'd been eating. The veins in Shoto's eyes bulged from disbelief and the food stuck in his throat, and he rapidly began to pound his chest.

"Shoto, are you-" The hero reacted the way a normal father would and got up from his seat to try and help his son, but Shoto held his hand out to stop him. After a few more seconds of pounding and coughing, Shoto calmed himself down and got the food out of his throat. He couldn't believe it: Shigeo had done it again. Those eyes, that voice, the cadence of his words, they were all signs of a man who regretted what he did, who had reflected on his actions and realized the ways he had been wrong. There was no other way to describe it: his father had changed. Shigeo made him change.

* * *

**Looks like another change of character! I assume there will be some people who're disappointed by the fact that Stain's surrender doesn't leave any significant impact to the outside world, but rest assured, his surrender will have larger implications for the future. Until Chapter 27!**


	27. Questions

After Iida and Todoroki had left the hospital, it left only Midoriya and Kageyama to spend time together. As they were alone in the hospital room, the fanboy asked his friend about the incident he'd been referring to when he said he was ready to burn the entire world to ashes, and Mob explained how they were simply dummies put by the son of Toichiro in order to give Shigeo a reason to fight Claw, whose invasion was poised to begin shortly.

In the hospital, they also took note of Stain's popularity rising due to his beliefs and convictions. Shigeo decided to look at some of his past videos of when he tried to convince society to change the definition of the word "hero". The esper listened to his words and his messages and found them to be very important, giving a new perspective on what being a hero meant with the utmost passion in his voice while labelling All Might as a prime example of what a hero should be, reflecting the same deep admiration he held for All Might in the ways that both Midoriya and Todoroki admired him. His speech had given more food for thought in Shigeo's mind, not only making him look more deeply into what made a hero, but also making him extremely confused and bothered about something.

Stain's words carried an impactful message, but people had completely ignored him. It was only now after he'd been arrested, after he'd committed murders against "false" heroes that people were starting to actually bother paying attention to these words. Why? Mob was having a difficult time coming up with the answer to this question.

While he was at the hospital, Mob decided to make good use of his time by looking up the anatomy of the skin as well as the structure of the human spine, intending to heal Shoto's scar and Ingenium's spin. The layers of the skin weren't so difficult to understand, but the anatomy of the spine was proving to be much more mind-numbing read for the esper, being introduced to several new terms and concepts he couldn't understand. He'd have to ask Recovery Girl for assistance with this later on.

The teenager had been sent back to Hawks' agency the same day that his friend had gone back to Gran Torino, which was around the sixth day of internships. After having settled things with the police and attending a press conference to give the details of his "victory" over the Hero Killer, he decided to take Tokoyami back to his agency and ordered a first-class train ticket for Shigeo. After a several hour train ride full of more research on the human anatomy, the esper made it back to the number three hero's agency, where Hawks and Tokoyami were waiting for him near the entrance.

"Hey Mob! Glad you made it back!" Hawks said with vibrant energy, "Sorry I couldn't stay in Hosu City with you, but there were a ton of things I needed to take care of here." The esper paid no mind to this, and was just glad to be back at the hero agency with his injuries basically healed.

"Since it's pretty late and this is our last day of internships, I thought we could just relax and hang out in my private lounge area." The two teenagers did not see any reason to object to the hero's proposal and followed him up to the elevator. When they entered the lounge area, they found a large, black couch, along with multiple couch chairs, a large television, and a ping pong table. The number three hero kicked back on the couch, while the two interns followed suit and seated themselves next to the golden ash-haired hero.

"Things've gotten pretty crazy around here ever since Stain's arrest. A ton of reporters came to the agency the day after the police made the public announcement of his arrest and I went up there to explain how I "beat" him. Then, when I got here, all my sidekicks and employees applauded me for arresting him. Hell, they even threw me a little celebration. And I've been forced to act like I'm some hotshot who took down the Hero Killer, even though I don't deserve it at all."

The number three hero's gaze went toward the esper, for there were still several questions that he had regarding Stain's surrender. "Mob, there're still things that don't add up with why Stain gave up. You talked about how you got Stain to realize that people could change, but that still doesn't put all the pieces together. It still doesn't explain why he talked about you so highly, why he spoke of you as if he knew everything about you. So tell me the rest of the story of what happened that night."

Shigeo shifted uncomfortably in his seat, not expecting Hawks to investigate the issue. He'd been really lucky that Stain hadn't spilled his secret or mentioned how he'd seen his memories at all, but he couldn't let Hawks or Tokoyami find out the truth about him. He had to find a way to come up with a plausible explanation for what Stain had said, for every part of Stain's speech about Mob to make sense.

"Well, when I first made it to the scene, I asked Stain why he was trying to kill Iida and the other pro hero. He explained his mission of trying to reclaim the word "hero" and killing people he viewed as "false" heroes. When I got a better idea of how he thought, my first reaction was to try and talk to him and explain how people could change instead of trying to fight. When that didn't work, I realized I would have to fight, but because of all the training we'd done before, I had no energy to fight. Even though I was out of power, I still felt I had to protect my friends, so I did whatever I could to fight him. Unfortunately, my inexperience in hand-to-hand combat let him overpower and paralyze me. After that, Todoroki came to help us, but I managed to regain some of my power and fight back. I then tried to keep on insisting that people could change if we lifted each other up to support one another. But it still wasn't enough, and he made that speech Native talked about, where he talked about his previous attempt to change society through his speeches on the street and how it failed, that killing false heroes was the only way to fix society."

Now here was going to be a bit trickier. "Stain kept on trying to kill Iida, so I landed a powerful blow on him. I landed the attack and dealt some pretty serious damage. But when I saw him lying there on the ground, wounded and injured, I tried to continue with my approach to talk to him. I decided to let him know about what I thought about everything he'd said, because it had left a big impact on me. I explained how I am who I am today because of everyone around me, and that living in the darkness of this world made me see that. I told him how he changed my view of what being a hero meant, how he made me realize that I wanted to be a hero so I could help people. I thought that he had a really meaningful message to convey, so I offered him a hand of support to help him convey that message. That's when you came and Tokoyami came in."

Both listeners were visibly astonished by the decisions Mob had made during the fight, that the first thing he'd tried to do when face-to-face with a serial killer was to talk to him to try and change him. Neither of them would've chosen diplomacy as the first option against the Hero Killer, and they definitely wouldn't have gone so far as to actually try to help Stain like that.

The number three hero began to relax in his chair while resting his fingers under his chin. "That would basically fit everything he said about you, trying to help your friends even without your quirk, your desire to support others, the fact that you tried to help Stain even after attacking you and trying to kill your friends. It all adds up..." The esper took a huge internal sigh of relief: it looked like Hawks had been convinced by his explanation.

Tokoyami remarked on the esper's willingness to talk with the enemy, recalling another moment when Shigeo had tried this course of action. "During the U.S.J. attack, I remember you initially tried to reason with the criminals as well. What compels you to do this, to try and find another way to confront villains?"

"I guess there're a few pretty simple reasons. One, is that I don't like hurt other people. Over time, I've learned that this is sometimes unavoidable, and that there will be instances in which fighting is necessary, but if I can find any way to settle things nonviolently and come to an understanding, then I'll gladly choose that option. The other reason is what I mentioned before: I believe in a person's ability to change, to grow from the interactions with others even if the person I'm trying to change is a villain. And you saw this truth with your own eyes.

"But part of me is just as confused as you are about why he thought I was so special."

"Mob, don't you see how incredible your actions were?" The number three hero openly objected to Shigeo's insistence that he wasn't special, "You were able to completely turn his mind around and end that fight in a non-violent way. In my mind, I'd always imagined that a fight between a hero and a villain who both refuse to give up would inevitably end up with one side killed or defeated. But that didn't happen that night: you found a way to reach out to Stain with your kindness and make him see why he was wrong in killing pro heroes. I would've never been able to reach out to him and change him like that. The fact that you even tried to change him at all is something cool by itself and also something I wouldn't have tried to do, so don't go underestimating what you did that night."

The esper felt Hawks' words carry the same weight and admiration of All Might whenever he complimented Mob for his character, and his lips curved up into a shaky smile of appreciation. The number three hero's smile widened in response, and Tokoyami also felt his mouth form a smile of its own.

Hawks walked over to the ping pong table, wanting to have some fun with his interns. "How 'bout we play us some ping pong, two against one?"

"Oh. I've only played it a few times before, so I'm not really that good at it," replied Shigeo.

"Well then this is the night you'll learn, the final lesson that both of you will learn for the last day of your internships. Now come on, grab some paddles." The two teenagers nodded in agreement, and the three of them started their final night together with even more laughs and fun time with one another.

* * *

The last day of internships had come, which meant it was time for the interns and heroes to part ways. It was very early in the morning for Shigeo and Fumikage, for they had another very long train ride to take. The two had hurried to get themselves ready and had already packed their belongings, though their hair was still disheveled and their school uniforms slightly crumpled. Now, standing near the exit with their school uniforms, Shigeo and Fumikage were bidding farewell to the number three hero, whose normally calm and jovial expression was nominally dampened.

"Well, looks like this is where we'll split," the hero said, "Now you go on, fly back to U.A. High and show'em what you learned here."

The two teenagers bowed in respect for the hero. "Thank you for all the guidance you've imparted upon us," Tokoyami said.

"I really enjoyed the time I spent here," Mob said, feeling a sense of melancholy knowing that he'd have to part ways with Hawks, "More importantly than just honing my skills, you reminded me that life is a precious thing, that it's full of small but important moments that you shouldn't be afraid to fully embrace, and that I shouldn't be afraid to feel exhilaration or happiness."

The number three hero's face brightened up like a light bulb, and he tussled the young teenager's hair in a final act of compassion. "Glad I could help. You know, you showed me some pretty amazing things too, and I'm also pretty dang happy that you came here to my agency."

Tokoyami was expecting the number three hero to ignore him and not give him any final compliments, but he was proven wrong when Hawks also tussled his hair as well, deciding to act with the same sense of kindness that Shigeo did. "You too, Tokoyami. Even though you might not've been able to soar as highly as you might've hoped, I still know you've got tons of potential. You just gotta keep working hard, finding ways to focus on your strengths, think outside the box in how to use your quirk. Do that, and you'll soar like an eagle."

The avian teenager was inspired by the hero's touching words, and nodded his head. "Yes, sir. I'll do my best."

The two teenagers gave the hero their final smiles before walking out of the building to return to their school. Watching the two interns leave the building, Hawks felt himself swell up with a sense of pride.

"Those two're gonna fly higher than anyone else, I'm sure of it."

* * *

As the students all returned home, Shoto Todoroki was on his way to meet his mother. It was unusual for him to go see her on a weekday, even if it happened to be a Friday, but he felt that he needed her help with understanding what had happened this week with Kageyama. He'd played the scenes of those moments with Stain and Endeavor over and over in his mind, wondering how it was possible that they could be changed so easily, but he could not find a proper answer to this question. It was why he was going to go see his mother: maybe she could help him figure out the answer to Kageyama's secret of changing people.

Upon entering the mental hospital, the receptionist, someone who was familiar with Shoto and his mother, observed how unusual it was for him to be there. The teenager was confused by her statement, but thought little of it, and went up the elevator to the third floor. As he silently stood there, he noticed how nervous he was as he stared at the floor display ticking up. Though it hadn't been as bad as the first time reuniting with her, he still couldn't shake this uneasy feeling within him.

Arriving at his mother's room, the teenager took a small sigh before opening the door. "Hey Mom."

Rei turned her face to look at her son at the door, and a smile quickly spread across her face. "Shoto." However, the smile disappeared, for she remembered seeing the news broadcast regarding the Hero Killer's capture. "I heard on the news that you were with a group of heroes and you came across the Hero Killer. Are you alright? Did he hurt you?"

"Oh, don't worry about it," he replied, "I'm fine."

The doting mother composed herself and returned to her bright and cheerful demeanor. "Come, sit down." The teenager took a seat beside her mother, who was still glowing. "You know, I haven't had the chance to see you on a school day. You're growing up so fast..."

The twinkle in her eyes caused Shoto to be flushed and look downward. Now he understood what the nurse was talking about when she said it was unusual for him to be here: this was the first time he'd ever come to visit her on a school day.

"I'm sorry for coming here unannounced."

"Don't worry. I'm always happy to see you." The mother tried to settle her son in. "Would you like anything to drink?" Rei went to her mini-fridge and opened it to go through the variety of options. While rummaging through the fridge, she found a small bottle of yogurt with a cartoon cow on the side, obviously meant for children.

"You remember this? Your old favorite yogurt, Mr. Cow. I saw they were selling it, so I thought..."

Shoto froze, vaguely recalling a time when he'd enjoyed this yogurt, though he couldn't pinpoint a specific memory, since those times had been so long ago, drowned out by too many memories of harsh training and pain. The teenager did not want to reject it after seeing how far she'd gone in anticipation for his visit, and decided to take the yogurt. The nominally sweet drink brought back a familiar sensation, though he still couldn't pinpoint an exact memory.

The hospital room grew quiet: the years spent apart had distanced their relationship, and Shoto didn't know how to bring up the real reason he'd come today, how he'd possibly bring "him" up to his mother. Even so, this deliberate silence gave both of them time to think about what they would say next.

"So how has school been?" Rei asked.

"It's been pretty good. I joined a new club that was formed by Kageyama."

"A new club?"

"It's the Body Improvement Club, dedicated to improving our physical strength while also working together. It's brand-new, so we've only had one practice so far, but the one practice that I had was still enjoyable for me, and it let me meet some new people."

"That's great. I'm glad to see you getting more involved with your classmates," replied Rei, "And you said that Kageyama started the club?"

"Yea, and he seems pretty committed to the club. Apparently, he was part of the same club in middle school and decided to start it here." Now that his mom had mentioned Kageyama, the teenager decided to veer the conversation toward the question most prevalent in his mind.

"Mom, I've got your laundry right here, and... Shoto? It's a surprise to see you here." Coming through the door was Shoto's older sister, Fuyumi Todoroki, carrying a load of her mother's laundry in her arms. She resembled her mother in some ways, though Fuyumi emitted a more upbeat and jolly demeanor in comparison to her mother, dimmed by her time spent alone in this mental hospital. "I heard of your run-in with the Hero Killer on the news, but thankfully you don't seem hurt.

"Mom, I'll leave your laundry here, if that's ok?"

"Thank you, honey." Fuyumi placed the bundle of clothes onto a shelf as she'd done so many times.

"Is there any special reason you're here today, Shoto?" Fuyumi asked.

"Actually..." The dual quirk-wielding teenager's head lowered as he prepared himself for what he was going to say. "I came here because I wanted you to help me try to make sense of something that happened this week."

Rei and Fuyumi immediately noticed the shifting atmosphere around Shoto, and Fuyumi took a seat opposite of Shoto and beside her mother.

"It has to do with Kageyama."

"Kageyama? You mean Shigeo Kageyama? I remember how well he did during the sports festival," she said. Fuyumi also smiled when she recalled how shy he was during the speech he gave, "And it was pretty surprising to find how shy he was when he made the opening speech, but he still gave a really good message."

"Shigeo is a really good friend of Shoto too," Rei stated, "But what exactly happened with him?"

The young teenager vividly recalled the conversation his friend had with his father in the hospital. "Apparently, "he" talked with Kageyama during the sports festival." The teenager refused to even refer to Endeavor as "father", though Rei and Fuyumi picked up on who he meant. "I'm not sure exactly what it is they talked about, but after that conversation, something changed with him. When I went to intern at his agency, he wasn't his usual self, and it seemed like what Kageyama said had left a small impact on him. Then, a few days ago, Kageyama had another talk with "him", though I managed to listen in on this conversation."

The two women leaned forward in anticipation. "Kageyama talked with him, told him the way he hasn't been a good father and how he's only been focused on his goal of being the number one hero. Later on, he brought me into his office at his agency to talk with him, and... he promised that he'd become a better father." Rei and Fuyumi's eyes widened.

"I could tell by the look in his eyes that he felt sincere regret for what he had done. Through that one conversation, Kageyama was able to completely change him, make him reflect on his actions and realize how he'd been wrong."

Both women jerked their heads back while their mouthes gaped open. They also knew how committed Endeavor was to that goal, and to think he'd actually take his eyes off of that goal so easily was astonishing.

"That's amazing..." muttered Fuyumi.

"You think that's amazing? That's nothing compared to the next thing I'm about to tell you." Rei and Fuyumi looked at one another with confused expressions. "Since you both saw the report of the Hero Killer's arrest, you know the details of his arrest and who he was, right?"

"I've seen some of the videos put online about his past," Fuyumi said, "How he dropped out of the hero course in high school because he didn't like the "fundamental decay" of that course, and also how he went out onto the streets to try and convince society to remember what the word "hero" really means."

Rei continued. "And regarding his arrest, apparently, you were with your friends and other heroes when you came across the Hero Killer, and the number three hero, Hawks, came in to rescue you and apprehended him."

"...That's a lie. The truth is, I fought the Hero Killer along with Kageyama and two of my other friends by ourselves. We were sent to the hospital for the injuries we got while fighting him, which is also where Kageyama talked with "him". The reason the police lied was that we weren't legally allowed to hurt the Hero Killer, so if the truth had come out, we would've been reprimanded by the authorities. "

The two women had not expected Shoto to have actually fought the Hero Killer himself, and felt relieved that he had managed to escape that fight alive, but they still couldn't see where this was going.

"What are you trying to get at?" Fuyumi asked.

"Fighting the Hero Killer, I remember how unbelievably determined he was to fulfill his objective. He wanted to kill a pro hero Native, as well as Iida, another classmate of mine and the younger brother of Ingenium, Stain's latest victim. During the battle, he openly stated his desire to reclaim the word "hero" by killing the people he thought didn't earn the title in order to fix this "corrupt" society, and he thought that Iida was one of those false heroes because of how he wanted to get revenge on Stain for hurting Ingenium. I was more than ready to fight the Hero Killer and defeat him to protect the others, but Kageyama... he talked to Stain. He made the effort to try and get Stain to stop his mission, to make him see that killing heroes wasn't the right way to fix society." The teenager looked into the eyes of his family members with a high intensity.

"And it worked. The battle was interrupted by the arrival of Hawks, but as soon as he arrived, Stain instantly surrendered. Even though Hawks was exhausted and probably could've been easily taken out, Stain didn't even bother putting up a fight and willingly turned himself in. All of the indomitable willpower that had fueled him during the fight had vanished. Then... Stain apologized to Iida for hurting his older brother. He expressed sincere guilt and remorse for all the people he killed, for how far he'd fallen and not being a good hero the way he wanted to be when he was younger, and it was all because of Kageyama."

The teenager raised his voice and held a finger in the air. "Through a SINGLE conversation, Kageyama was able to change a serial killer like Stain."

The two women felt their entire bodies jerk back, while their eyes widened like saucers. This story sounded something straight out of a child's crazy imagination: to think that such a man could turn over a new leaf so quickly was such a strikingly tall tale.

"That's impossible," muttered Fuyumi.

"I know. Even having seen it all happen before my eyes, a part of me still doesn't believe it. That's why I came here today, to see if you could help me figure out how he does it. Mom, how do you think Kageyama's able to do this? How is he able to completely change people's mindsets through just his words, in such a short amount of time?"

The stricken mother took a few seconds to recover from the shock. She was amazed by the things that this young child had accomplished, the seemingly inconceivable changes of heart that had taken place, and in order to properly understand how he'd done it, Rei had to know how Mob went about changing them.

"You were there to listen to Shigeo: what exactly did he say to both of them?"

"Well, with Stain, I came in halfway through the fight, so there are some things that he said that I wasn't there to hear, but..." The teenager could remember everything, every word that Kageyama had spoken that night in the alley and that day in the hospital. "During the fight, Kageyama and I tried to get through to Iida, who was still consumed with revenge and wanted us to leave so he could take down the Hero Killer himself. Kageyama told Iida not to allow his anger and hatred to consume him, how he believed Iida to be better than that, while I reminded him that he wanted to make his older brother proud, to become the hero Ingenium wanted him to be. Thankfully, we were able to get him to abandon his desire for vengeance, but Stain didn't accept this, and thought that Iida would never change, that he'd always be infecting society.

"Kageyama disagreed: he explained how through our words and our support, we were able to change Iida, make him into a better person and steer him on a better path. He went on by saying that we could steer other people on the right path in the same way we'd done for Iida, but Stain fiercely rejected Kageyama's statement. He decided to tell us about his past, which you're already familiar with, as well as the way he thought the word "hero" was earned through action, how too many people were only driven to become heroes because of fame and money. After Stain's speech, Kageyama charged up an attack and managed to get him on the ground. But instead of trying to knock him out, Kageyama walked up to him and started talking again.

"He spoke of how he became the person he was thanks to the people around him, through their support and wisdom, and actually said that Stain had changed him too. Kageyama had actually taken his words into consideration, reflected to Stain how he'd made him understand that the word "hero" was earned through one's actions. He went further than that, talking about the internal struggle he was having about not finding a reason to be a hero, but because of Stain, he realized that he wanted to be a hero in order to help other people the ways others had helped him. Kageyama thanked Stain for helping him understanding these things, and actually lent him his hand, offered to help Stain try to resume his previous efforts of changing society through his speeches and words. But before he could say anything more, Hawks came in." The two women let out faint gasps, while their eyes began to slowly brighten with fascination.

"With "him", half of the conversation wasn't even talking about how he'd failed as a father. Instead, Kageyama just talked about the ways he found meaning in his life apart from becoming the number one hero. For him, he enjoyed himself even before attending U.A. High because he had friends and family around him, and how they helped give his life meaning. He gave examples of how he found new meaning to his life at U.A. High, and one of those examples was actually me. He said that his life had meaning knowing that he'd helped me with my internal struggle, allowed myself to open up more to others."

Fuyumi didn't understand what Shoto was referring to, and arched her eyebrows up with confusion. "What do you mean when you say he helped you?"

"During the sports festival, Shigeo went to talk with Shoto." Fuyumi turned her head to face her mother, and was surprised when she saw Rei's eyes beginning to water up, "He understood the dilemma Shoto was having in using his left side, told him that it was okay if he didn't use his fire if they fought in the final rounds, and reminded him that he could make his own choices in his life."

"Wow..." Fuyumi's eyes suddenly began to lighten up, and a smile spread across her cheeks as she gained a newfound respect for Shigeo.

"Anyway, he also used the new Body Improvement Club that he started as something that gave his life meaning, since it was the opportunity to help our classmates become stronger and create a deeper sense of unity while also creating fond memories. After that, Kageyama made "him" see that he'd completely isolated himself from us by working solely to become the number one hero, but encouraged him by saying if he put the same effort into being a father the way he did into being a hero, then he could do great things."

The teenager went silent, and he waited for Rei to give her interpretation of what it all meant. He looked into his mother's eyes, which were glowing with amazement, having gained a true understanding of Mob's character.

"I see it now, I see how he's able to do it," she replied with a widening smile. "When he speaks to others to try and change them, he doesn't just lecture them and tell them why they're wrong. Instead, he does something much more than that: he weaves his words with sincerity and emotion.

"What makes Shigeo truly amazing, one of a kind, is his ability to tell people exactly how he feels, even his enemies, and that speaks to their hearts far more than anything else could. By expressing those feelings, Shigeo's honest nature helps others to be honest with themselves, to dig deep into their own hearts and remember what really matters to them."

Rei chuckled to herself. "And to think, this openness, honesty, and kindness could come from someone born with such incredible power. That only gives his words even greater strength. Shoto, if it's possible, the next time you come visit me, do you think you could ask Shigeo to come with you?"

This request came out of nowhere for the teenager. "You want to meet him?"

"I'd like to thank him for everything that he's done for you and for Enji, and I also want to see what he's really like in-person, if he's as incredible as you say he is."

Though unexpected, Shoto saw no reason to object to his mother's request. He was sure that Mob would take a liking to her, since they both shared the same kind heart. "Sure thing."

"Shigeo definitely sounds like an incredible person," Fuyumi added, her generally bright demeanor shining even brighter than usual, "He was able to do something with dad that none of us could for so many years. Who knows the kind of good that could come from this..."

"Yes," Rei said, mimicking her daughter's glowing expression. She couldn't wait to meet him, to see the kind of amazing human she pictured him to be.

* * *

By the time Shigeo and Fumikage had made it back to Musutafu, it was mid-afternoon and the school had already ended, so the two of them parted ways at the train station and went back to their homes. They also knew that everyone was just coming back from their internships, so there'd be no meeting for the Body Improvement Club. Since it was also Friday, that meant that the class could rest after the intense week of internships, but not Shigeo. For the esper, he went back to his apartment with a rather quick pace in his steps, for there were once again several things he needed to do, several things he needed to discuss with All Might.

Speaking of the number one hero, while Shigeo was hurriedly trying to get home, All Might was anxiously waiting for the esper in the main living room. He'd seen the news report on Stain's arrest and how Kageyama, Midoriya, and a few other students were involved with the situation. He'd also received a call from Gran Torino informing the hero about what had happened, how his two disciples had gone to save their friends and gotten badly injured in the process, though this call had been made before he'd heard about Stain's surrender and how Kageyama had changed him. The elderly hero had also advised All Might to tell the full truth about One For All and it's history to Midoriya, to reveal the secrets he'd been hiding from his successor.

For Toshinori, this also made him reflect upon the things he'd hidden from Kageyama for several months now. Even though it had been to protect Shigeo from the pain of this revelation, the hero felt guilty of keeping this secret from him, especially after the esper had been so open and honest with All Might with so many things, how he'd put his complete faith in the hero. It felt unfair that the number one hero wasn't reciprocating that honesty with him, putting that same kind of trust in Shigeo. Well, that ended today. As soon as the esper got here, he'd tell him everything.

The symbol of peace heard the door open, and in came Shigeo, who was not expecting to see someone else in the apartment with All Might.

"Midoriya?" The number one hero had decided not to waste any time telling them the truth, and called his successor over to his apartment so he'd be there to listen to the full story of One For All.

"Hey Kageyama! Glad you made it!"

"What're you doing here?"

"All Might sent me a text and told me to come to his apartment to talk." Izuku's face was absolutely ecstatic, and his eyes were teeming with excitement. His inner fanboy was screaming out at where he was right now. The teenager let out a short yelp of enthusiasm. "I still can't believe I'm actually in All Might's home!"

A comedic sweat bead fell down All Might's face, though the number one hero's expression quickly turned serious. Izuku had felt that same seriousness when he arrived a few minutes ago, but was too focused on the fact he was in All Might's home to notice it. However, the teenager was now able to pick up on this tension surrounding him, and his happy-go-lucky face vanished. Mob also saw the expression on All Might's face and took a seat next to his friend.

"First off, I'd like to apologize to both of you for not being there to help you against the Hero Killer," he said.

"You don't have to apologize for that," replied Shigeo.

"Yea, you shouldn't blame yourself for that All Might," added Izuku, "So what did you want to talk to us about? Since you actually asked me to come here to your home, I'm sure that it's gotta be something extremely important."

"Sharp as always, Midoriya." The number one hero sighed and leaned his body forward, exchanging glances with his two disciples. "Both of you have placed your full trust in me for all these months, confided all of your thoughts and emotions with me, and I realized that you deserve that same kind of openness from me, which is why it's now time to tell you what I've been concealing from both of you."

Toshinori decided to get the more difficult subject out of the way first, which was what happened with the esper and the Sludge Villain on the day that he first arrived in this reality. "Kageyama, there's something important that you must know happened on the first day we met, about the Sludge Villain, though it's going to be hard for you to hear." The fanboy gasped: was All Might really going to come forward with that after all this time, even after the hero himself had told Midoriya to keep quiet about the incident?

"When you lost control of your power, you-"

"I accidentally sent the Sludge Villain flying away in the process." The number one hero was shocked that the esper had finished the sentence.

"Wait... you mean you've known this whole time?" he said. The esper nodded while his friend felt himself shift uncomfortably in his seat. "Then how come you didn't say anything about it? Aren't you upset that I hid this from you?"

"I mean, at first I was surprised and I did want to ask you about this, but I didn't feel it was right to bring it up after everything you've done to help me. Besides, I'm sure you just lied to try and protect me." The esper gave the hero a reassuring smile. "So please don't feel guilty about keeping it a secret. Trust me, I'm fine."

All Might and Izuku felt themselves beam, being shown once again how kind and understanding Shigeo was with basically everything. But shortly after, the number one hero returned to his serious demeanor, for what came next was going to be a much longer, more detailed secret. The hero now focused his eyes on his successor.

"The quirk you bear is one of unique and untold power, and I believe that now is the time you know of its origin. And the same goes for you, Kageyama, for I also believe you have the right to know the truth about your friend's power. One For All is derived from another quirk, a power that is very old."

"It used to be something different?" said Midoriya.

All Might nodded. "The name of that quirk is All For One. It allowed its user to take quirks from others, while the user could keep those quirks or give them to someone else. It bears many similarities to the power of Toichiro Suzuki, the boss of the esper organization Claw. This all began back when quirks were first starting to appear, before society knew how to deal with these newly empowered people. Suddenly, it was impossible to say what it meant to be a normal person, civil rights were heavily debated, the progress of civilization stalled, and society decayed. During that chaotic period of change, a single person managed to rally many people together. He went by the name of his quirk, All For One. He stole quirks from others, and with his overwhelming power, he spread his influence across the country. He manipulated people to serve his purposes, committing evil acts with little resistance. While you may have been able to stop your version of All For One, Kageyama, this heinous villain unfortunately succeeded in his plans of conquest, and in the blink of an eye, he became the ruler of Japan."

"I don't get it, though," Shigeo interjected, "I never saw any of this ever mentioned during my online history class."

"Because it's the kind of shameful history that people like to ignore. Anyway, when people gain true power, they enjoy showing it off to others."

"But how does this all tie together? And what about One For All?" Midoriya said.

"I said that All For One could give quirks to others, remember? He made people submit to his will by altering their abilities, but sadly, there were poor souls who were unable to bear the burden of the quirks they were given. They became mindless dolls, incapable of speaking, just like the Nomu. Meanwhile, some quirks actually evolved as they were passed on, with a few actually managing to combine with other power sets. This evil man had a quirkless younger brother."

"A younger brother?" the esper said.

"Yes. He was small and frail, but he had a strong sense of justice. The two brothers couldn't have been more different. It pained the brother to see All For One's deeds, so he kept resisting his will." This revelation brought a particular impact for the esper, who was immediately beginning to draw parallels between himself and All For One, the fear that Ritsu had towards him for so long.

"Then, All For One transferred a quirk to his sibling, one that would allow him to stockpile power. We don't know whether it was a gift or whether it was to force his brother to submit."

Midoriya was starting to see the picture being painted here. "Don't tell me..."

"Yes. Even though everyone thought he was quirkless, it turned out he did have a quirk, though even he didn't realize this to be the case. He had a useless power that only allowed him to pass on his quirk!" The hero spread his arms out, "And so, the stockpiling ability merged with the younger brother's power, and that's how One For All." Both teenagers were baffled by the unexpected way such a strong power was born.

"I've always found it ironic that justice so often spawns from evil," All Might remarked.

"Hold on, I get now how One For All was created, but the villain you're talking about should be long dead by this point. Why bring him up now?"

"One who steals quirks has no limits. There are quirks that halt aging, so it's almost certain he has something like that. The Symbol of Evil seemed basically immortal. With the state of the world and the huge gap in their abilities, the younger brother decided to entrust this quirk to future generations. Even though he failed to defeat All For One, he hoped One For All would continue to grow in power until it was strong enough to defeat his older brother. Eventually, it was my turn, and I managed to defeat the Symbol of Evil. At least, that's what I thought. But he survived, and he's now back in action as the mastermind behind the League of Villains."

The hero got up from his seat and walked to the window. "So now you both know the truth. As the next holder of One For All, Midoriya, and as someone who has already defeated a villain of such caliber, Kageyama, you may both have to face this great evil one day, because I failed. I know it's a lot to ask, but-"

"We'll do our best!" Izuku shot out of his seat, undeterred by the battle he would have to fight one day, "We'll do whatever you ask, no matter what it takes!"

"Right." The esper followed his friend's lead and gave his mentor a look of confidence, "As long as you're here to help us, we'll overcome anything! Because we both know you'll be there for us, just like you've always been." The two friends exchanged glances before giving each other reassuring smiles.

The number one hero felt his stomach twist into knots while he felt a sweat bead trickle down his face in response to their words. The truth was, that may very well not have been the case, that in the near future, it was more than likely they would have to face off against All For One by themselves. All Might opened his mouth, ready to tell them both the whole story of his impending fate, but at the last second, he stopped himself.

Izuku and Shigeo could see the tension and unease in All Might's face, the way something was eating him from inside. "All Might? What is it?" Shigeo said.

The hero felt he was at a crossroads. A part of him felt that he still owed it to both of them to tell them everything and continue placing the same confidence in them the way they did in him, but at the same time, revealing such a truth so soon... just didn't feel right. Not only did Midoriya depend on All Might for guidance, but Kageyama depended on him for basically everything else too as his mentor and the only adult in this world who knew the truth about him. So... what should he say?

"There's... something else that I want to tell you both, but..." Toshinori fumbled with his words, trying to find some sort of middle ground here between the two choices he had, "I'm not ready to tell you yet. I'm... not strong enough. That's all I can say."

The two disciples of All Might were unable to grasp what the hero was trying to tell them. What sort of secret was left that he hadn't confided in them? Izuku was about to persist on knowing the truth, but before he could speak up, Shigeo stepped in.

"This must be a really tough thing for you to say, huh? Come on, Midoriya, let's not force him to say anything he's not ready to tell us. After all, we both owe almost everything to him. I'm sure he'll tell us when he feels it's right." The green-eyed student understood what his friend was saying, and while still curious about what All Might was keeping from them, decided to respect the hero's privacy and nodded at Mob in agreement. All Might was immensely relieved by the esper's support and grateful of how considerate he was being of his emotions.

Midoriya took out his phone to check the time, and panicked when he realized the time. "Crap, it's so late! I really wish I could stay longer, but my mom's waiting for me at home, and she's probably really anxious for me to get back." The teenager grabbed his things and walked to the door. "I'll see you back at school, Kageyama, All Might."

The two waved Midoriya farewell and watched as he exited the apartment. After the teenager left, the air in the room remained tense for a few seconds from the story of One For All and the secret that All Might was keeping from the two of them. However, Mob decided to ignore this tension and get back to other matters, for right now, the esper needed All Might's guidance and answers to the questions that were most prevalent in his mind. "All Might, there's something else that I'd like to talk to you about, if it's alright with you."

"Of course." Toshinori had become very keen at figuring out Mob's expressions, the times when he was confused or lost about something, and he could tell that there was something very urgent on the esper's mind. All Might quickly took his seat again and leaned forward. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"I was just wondering... Why do so many people admire and listen to you?" All Might was thrown off by this question, as any regular person would probably find the answer to this question blatantly obvious. "I've noticed how so many people like Midoriya, Todoroki, and even the Hero Killer look up to you. Is it just because you're the Symbol of Peace? Because you have the power of One For All that gave you such incredible power?

"I admire you because of everything you've done for me. I listen to you because you were the only person who helped me in this world. Like my master, you've been able to guide me and give me the answers to important questions while also acting as an amazing supporting figure. I hope I don't offend you by saying this, but the fact that you're the Symbol of Peace really doesn't matter to me."

Contrary to Mob's belief, the number one hero felt a smile spread across his face. "I'm not offended at all. If anything, I'm happy to know that you admire me just because of my character. It means that I've been doing a good job as your mentor and guardian." But All Might's smile quickly disappeared. "Still, what's this all about? What made you want to ask me this?"

The esper pulled his phone out from his pocket and began to search for videos of Stain online. "You've probably noticed the huge support the Hero Killer's been getting ever since his arrest. A lot of people like him because he wanted to create a society where people were more deserving of the word "hero". Here's a speech that he made when he was younger." Mob showed the screen to All Might and hit the play button.

_"People, I ask you to heed my words! Our society has fallen from grace! The word "hero" has become distorted and twisted! Too many people have started to carry that title with only themselves in mind! But a hero is not one who acts for himself! A hero is someone who acts solely for the good of the people, to protect the citizens and ensure them a brighter future! A hero like All Might, who has brought forth an era of peace with his strength and his love of the people! He is a man who embodies the true meaning of a hero, with only the love of justice and the citizens driving him! So I ask you all today to follow his example! Let us all unite to ensure that the word "hero" doesn't lose all meaning in this society! Will you join me in my cause?"_

All Might could hear the passion and dedication in Stain's voice and couldn't help feel slightly flattered by the utmost devotion this man held for him. "I think these words carry a really important message. All he asked was for heroes to be better people, to not think just of themselves when choosing to become a hero. And yet... his words were ignored by everyone. It's only now, after he became a serial killer and took the lives of pro heroes, that people are actually starting to notice his words and see the message they carry. In other words, it's only after he became stronger that people started listening to him...

"Then I thought about myself. I've realized that a lot of my classmates at U.A. have begun to listen to me too, but is that only because of my psychic powers? I guess the main question I have is... if power is the only thing that people will listen to. If I didn't have those powers, would people even care what I have to say? Would they ignore me the same way they ignored Stain? Can the same words really have such a big difference to people if they come out from a person with power or a person without power?"

The number one hero could see the points that Mob was bringing up, how much the idea of power influencing people disturbed him. After all, he was someone who never really cared about power, never really seen the importance of it in his life because he chose not to use it. It made sense to him why he'd be asking these questions now. All Might knew he had to think really hard before giving Kageyama an answer. The hero took a deep breath and rested himself, clamping his hands together in front of his chest.

"People admire those with power because they view them as dependable. They know they can count on those people to help them when they're in trouble, to protect them when they can't protect themselves. That's the reason I wanted to be the Symbol of Peace: in an era of crime and hopelessness, I wanted to be someone strong that the people could depend on, someone they could lean on for support and protection in the same way that you lean on me for wisdom and guidance. And with the power of One For All, I was able to clean up the crime-filled streets and put an end to All For One's criminal empire and shine light on a country shrouded in darkness. It's because the people know that I'll be there to protect them that they look up to me.

"However," All Might raised his finger, "It's important for you to understand that what is more important than having power is how you use it, who you choose to be with that power. That's precisely what makes you so special.

"I said before that when people gain true power, they enjoy showing it off to others." Toshinori extended his pointed finger toward Kageyama while his smile started to reappear. "You are the TREMENDOUS exception to this rule. Even though you were born with the unimaginable power and you had no one to stop you or match you in strength, you've chosen not to rely on that power, not let it define who you are. Instead, you chose to live a regular life and commit to becoming a better person. That is the reason why your classmates admire you so much. Not because of how strong your powers are, but because of who you are in spite of your amazing power. Never underestimate how special that is.

"But in regards to your question, the answer is... yes. While it is not the sole or most important factor, power will always have a certain degree of influence in whether or not people will listen to you, and many people will not view certain words with the same importance if they come from a regular person like Stain. It's unfortunate, but that's life. It's up to us to comprehend the meaning of the words, no matter who they might come from."

Mob was processing everything All Might had told him with careful thought and detail. So it was true that people with power may have the potential to have greater voices in society, it was still not everything that people valued. He still had the potential to reach the hearts of many people in this society and get them to change. That was the mission that Stain had entrusted him with, to improve this society.

"All Might, you remember I said that I didn't have a drive, a reason to be a hero?"

"Yes."

"Well now I do. I've realized that I want to be a hero not only so I can help people when they're in need, but so that I can try to change society. Even if Stain did terrible things and killed people, he still had something valuable to teach society, and I hope I'll be able to properly express that message to people, make them understand what it means to be a hero and remind them that even with quirks, we're all just human. And even though my passion for that goal isn't nearly as strong as Midoriya's is, it's still a start."

All Might transformed into his muscular state and clapped his hands together in approval. "That's a fantastic goal to have, and with your strength of character, I have no doubt that you'll make a big impact, show the world what it means to be a hero and what it means to fight on to improve yourself."

"Fight..." That word instantly reminded him of the other thing that he had planned on asking All Might, and the teenager rushed into his room.

"Hey, what're you doing in there?" said All Might.

"I'm changing into a t-shirt and some shorts! If it's alright with you, I'd like for the the two of us to go to the training site we went to for the Sports Festival! There's something else I need your help with!"

"Oh, well..." Though put off by Shigeo's sudden desire to go to the training site, All Might didn't really see a reason to object and speedily went into his room to get himself into similarly comfortable clothing. But what exactly did Mob want to do at an hour like this?

* * *

After getting dressed, Toshinori and Shigeo made their way to the desolate training site in less than a minute. The sun was starting to set, and the large rocks of this wasteland casted very long, wide shadows over the barren valley. As they approached the site, the esper decided to take several paces away from the hero, until they were both standing face-to-face with one another.

"So what exactly did you want us to do out here?" All Might asked.

"I want you to teach me how to fight." The number one hero's eyes widened from this unexpected request. Shigeo could see why the hero was surprised by this, and began to explain his reasoning.

"All this time, I've never really seen the need to learn how to fight since I had my psychic powers to help me, but my fight with the Hero Killer made me see how wrong that was. When I arrived to help my friends, I had run out of energy, and eventually, it was just me and Stain. Without my power, I was at his mercy, and he told me the truth about how I've relied too much on my powers to help me with fights. In fact, the only reason I'm still alive is because he let me live. Stain made me realize that I'm going to need more than just my power if I want to be a hero. So that's why I want you to teach me how to fight, so I won't have to be so dependent on my psychic powers to protect people."

"I see..." All Might definitely understood the esper's point. If he happened to come across All For One in the future, he would need to know how to handle himself properly in a fight against a man with more than one hundred years of fighting experience. The hero cracked his knuckles and twisted his neck around to get ready for some sparring.

"Well, you're in luck, because fighting is probably the only thing that I know how to teach, since..." The number one hero's body began to shiver when he remembered the painful memories of his sparring sessions with Gran Torino, how the hero had etched those lessons and fighting instincts into Toshinori's mind. "Anyway, since the sun's going to set soon, let's not waste any time and get straight into it. And if we're going to do this, it's not going to be soft. The best way to learn how to fight is if you feel you're in an actual fight, if you're giving it you're all, so come on and hit me with everything you've got. Don't be shy; whatever you dish out at me, I can definitely take it."

The esper hesitated for a moment, fully realizing that he would have to hurt All Might in this training session. He didn't like the idea, especially considering how much he respected the hero, but he was asking him to give it his all. Mob closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He could do this. Shigeo decided to start things off with some intensity and unpredictability, so he used erratic motions with his telekinesis. Thanks to the training with Hawks, this kind of movement was no longer an issue for him.

"Impressive movements! Using your telekinesis to stay out of my line of sight, make it more difficult for me to track you! Are you sure you don't know how to fight?"

"Well, I've copied these movements from Hanazawa, the other teenage esper I told you about!"

"This would definitely confuse any normal opponent, but what if..." The hero disappeared from Mob's sight and instantly popped up behind him. "Your opponent can match that speed?"

Shigeo put up a barrier to defend himself, but the hero easily broke through the barrier and hit the esper square in the face. Mob was sent flying through the air but stopped himself with his telekinesis. All Might gave the teenager little time to recover and rushed toward him. Shigeo put another barrier around himself, but it shattered like the one before, and the esper was dug deep into the rock.

"You're too dependent on those barriers to protect yourself. They're definitey useful, but against an enemy who can break them, not only will you leave yourself open to attack, but you'll waste energy putting up so many barriers," the hero said, watching as the esper dug himself out of the ground.

"Alright, I'm going to make a new rule: from now on, you're forbidden from using barriers. You're only allowed to fight using fists. You need to learn how to dodge, anticipate your opponent's movements and know how to counter. Now show me more!" Mob raced forward and attempted to strike the hero with a series of punches, but they were easy for All Might to read and avoid, who was also analyzing the esper's sloppy technique.

"When punching, you need to keep your fists up. Don't drop them down every time you throw a punch; that just wastes time and momentum. And your body is facing me: when punching, your chest should be facing the side so it'll be harder for your enemy to deal any damage to your organs." The esper attempted to do as the hero said, but was unable to properly do everything that was asked of him. As Mob threw another punch, the hero effortlessly caught his fist.

"Looks like we've got a lot of work to do."


End file.
